The Orphan Flower
by Akane Naomi
Summary: Izumi and some of her friends are orphans and aren't wanted at school. That is, until a new kid comes in....
1. Orphans

_The Orphan Flower_

_In life, everyone should be happy_

_zooming past the time and fun_

_until you realize, you're not like everyone else_

_middle of nowhere in this world, I'm no one_

_I'm an orphan flower_

"Ow!" Izumi said painfully as she fell on the floor spilling her books everywhere. She glared at the girls behind her who pushed her. "You'll pay for that…." she announced angrily

"Why don't you just pick up your school stuff instead….orphan" taunted a girl named Mimi

Another girl known as Miyako laughed "And maybe get yourself another punch line" as they walked away

Izumi shook her head and gathered her belongings. She headed straight to class to her desk near her friends Rika and Juri. She sighed as she sat down "I should get used to this by now…" she muttered

Her friends looked at her. "Did they give you a hard time again?" asked Juri worriedly

Rika folded her arms "You should stand up for yourself more, that way they won't bother you"

"Don't you remember what we're well known for? "The Orphans" Izumi began to point out

"She's right you know" laughed another friend of theirs

The three looked at him. "Don't forget the orphan idiot" muttered Rika putting a hand on her head

"It's not my fault, you guys are so depressed" Kouichi laughed

"I'm surprised that out of all of us, he's the most optimistic one" Juri added

Rika sighed and closed her eyes slowly and opened them again. "Even so, no one understands what we go through, they know nothing"

Izumi was about to say something else in their discussion but was interrupted by the teacher. "Class sit down, I have a student I would like all of you to meet" as she pointed at the boy at the doorway and motioned him to come in. "This is Takuya Kanbara" as he waved hello and sat down at his seat in the front.

After class ended, everyone began to head over to lunch. Izumi and her friends finished their lunches and were about to throw them away until someone "accidentally" dumped trash next to them.

"Pick it up orphans" Sora began

She shook her head "Pick it up yourself"

Mimi laughed as she threw some coins on the ground "Why don't you pick up money along the way, you should be glad that we paid you to pick up after us"

"Maybe you did, and just because we're orphans, doesn't make us poor" Rika glared

"Back off, Chika" Sora responded

"It's Rika idiot" she muttered

"I can't hear you, your voice is too soft" Miyako joined

"Or maybe, your ears and your heads are too dense to go through"

"Why you-" as the riot began again between them

"Do you want to take this outside?" Mimi exclaimed

Rika rolled her eyes "We are outside stupid"

Other students along with Takuya began to look over at them. He began to wonder what was going on "What kind of school is this?" he thought

"Leave them be" his new friend Takato said as they ate lunch

He looked at him "Huh? Shouldn't we do something about it?"

"It's no use, the two groups have been at it for a while" Henry explained

Tai watched both groups "By the way, that group over there" he pointed at Mimi and the others "They're part of our group"

"We didn't really have a choice did we?" Matt added feeling bored

"Not only that, we suggest that you shouldn't hang out with "them" Daisuke announced

Takuya became confused "Um….why?"

Daisuke shrugged his shoulders "We don't really know for sure. We know that they're known as "The Orphans" and that they cause trouble in our school"

Takato tapped his shoulder and pointed at each person "Especially those two girls over there. The one with the bored looking expression is Rika, and the other is Izumi. Juri the short one over there is a pretty quiet person, and Kouichi is a pretty optimistic guy in the group. There are three others, Junpei a person who likes to eat, Tomoki who is quiet like Juri and gets bullied a lot, and Hikari which I don't know so well"

"Wow, you guys seem to know a lot about them"

"Of course, but that's not always a good thing" he shrugged

He looked at them "What do you guys have against them?"

"You shouldn't ask us something like that, you might want to ask the girls about that" Henry answered

"Like we said, don't hang out with them" warned Tai

Takuya nodded and started to head towards class. "I wonder, why they do troublemaking stuff." he thought and tried to remember what happened earlier at lunch.

"_Izumi and her friends finished their lunches and were about to throw them away until someone "accidentally" dumped trash next to them."_

"_Pick it up orphans" Sora began_

He opened his eyes "I don't think they started it in the first place…….it was Sora" he analyzed in his head. Walking down the hallway, he was too busy thinking that he ran into a girl, making her notebooks fall down on the floor.

"Great" thought Izumi picking up the papers off the ground, noticing that the person she bumped into was helping her.

"Um…..you don't need to do that" she offered trying to avoid a scene

He smiled "It's okay, it's partly my fault too" and handed her the rest of the papers

"T-Thanks" she began not sure if it was a joke or not and walked past him without a good-bye.

He looked back at her "She doesn't seem like the type to be in trouble…."


	2. Realize

_Orphan Flower_

"Takuya Kanbara!" yelled a group of voices

"Uh oh, I have a bad feeling" he thought as he turned around to face three certain girls.

Mimi put her hands on her hips "Was that Izumi that you were just helping?"

He rolled his eyes "Yes, it is, unless if there's another Izumi you're referring to"

"We're serious, Takuya" Sora began

"Look, I don't really see anything wrong with her." he explained and as he walked past them and announced "Besides, what has she done to you?" leaving the girls speechless

…………………………….

The Next Day

Izumi sighed as she sat down in her seat that morning. "Life just gets boring everyday doesn't it?" she thought

When the bell rang and school started, a girl came in late and sat in her seat. Izumi became surprised that it was one of her friends Hikari, and waved to her as she smiled back.

She leaned over to her "Wow, it's been a while since you came to school Kari"

She nodded "I have something to tell you guys, but I'll have to tell you later" she explained

…………………………..

Lunch

"So Kari, what did you want to tell us?" asked Rika as she sat down along with the others outside.

Kari looked down not sure of how to say it, and began "Well…..I found out, over the weekend…..I'm no longer going to be an orphan…."

"WHAT?!" everyone cried in unison

She winced at their loud voices "It's not like I'm moving, I'm still going to be here"

"Who are you going to live with?" Izumi quickly asked

She became quiet again "It's ……….Tai"

Everyone looked at her with awkward silence.

Kouichi looked away "Um….so why his family?"

"Because…from the very beginning…..since birth, I'm actually his sister"

Rika looked away "I see…"

Izumi looked at everyone worriedly "Um, it's not like anything will happen between us anyways!" she laughed nervously trying to cheer them up

Kari smiled and nodded "That's true…."

When it was time to go back to class, Rika was walking past Izumi and out of nowhere she said "I wouldn't trust Kari anymore Izumi"

She looked at her in disbelief "What do you mean?"

"She's not going to be the same…"

She watched her go down the hallway and began to think "I don't Kari, is that kind of person…….is she?" she thought beginning to feel nervous

……………………….

After a few days, Izumi began to notice that her friend….Kari, was avoiding them, hanging out with "them". "Why?" she thought "This isn't the Kari I know…… she hated Mimi, Sora, and Miyako….so why is she acting like she's best friends with them?" she thought angrily

"I told you it wasn't going to be the same" mumbled Rika who was sitting beside her

She looked down "You're right" she sighed

Afterschool, Izumi walked outside feeling depressed. Too busy in thought, she dropped her school papers again. "Why did I just drop them?" she thought as she gathered them up "I'm so clumsy" she accidentally announced

"Well you kind of are, this is the second time" joked a familiar voice that handed her some of her school papers.

She looked up "Ah, it's you" she muttered and walked away.

Surprised he stopped her "Hey wait!" he began

Turning around she looked "What is it?" in a bored tone

"This isn't turning out the way I thought it would be" he thought nervously "Don't I at least get a thank you? and what's with the attitude lately?"

"Thanks……and I don't see why someone like you should care about me. Hasn't anyone warned you about me? especially my friends?"

He nodded "So? I don't have to believe in rumors"

"Either way, don't waste your time on people like us." as she walked down the sidewalk

He caught up with her walking beside her "What makes you say that?"

She stopped "People here don't like us, or should I say "orphans" all we do is cause trouble. So get it in your head…… you guys don't understand what we go…..through" as tears were starting to fall

He was about to say something but before he did, she quickly wiped her tears away and muttered "I have to go home now" and ran down the street so that he wouldn't follow her. "I'm such an idiot to cry…." she scolded herself

He watched her worriedly as she ran off, not knowing what to do. "I do understand Izumi…." he repeated in his head as he walked away "Because……I'm….an orphan too…."


	3. Part of an Explanation

_The Orphan Flower_

_Here_

_I am_

_Keeping my head up high_

_And believe it_

_Remaining to be true_

_I am Hikari_

"I don't want to face today" Izumi muttered to herself as she began walking to the school building. "Especially with what happened last week with Takuya"

"IZUMI!" grinned Kouichi which surprised her

Rika shook her head "I tried to warn you before he-"

"I was just announcing a morning greeting to a dear friend of mine!" interrupted Kouichi again

She couldn't do anything but laugh along with the others. "Oh well, at least I have friends like them" she reminded herself

As they entered the classroom and sat down in their seats, Izumi noticed that Hikari dropped her journal on the floor and went over to pick it up. She looked around for her and saw her talking with a group. She walked up to them calmly and announced "Hey Kari, you dropped this"

Everyone began to look at her. She nodded and took the journal "Thanks…..and um Orimoto?"

This surprised her "Orimoto?" she asked herself

"I would like to ask if you would please call me Hikari now"

"Um….okay" walking away confused "What's with her?"

Hikari sadly looked at Izumi "I'm sorry I had to do this to you" she apologized in her head "I really am……one day, I'll tell you why…" turning back to her new friends.

_Flashback_

_Hikari was about five years old at the time, looking out the window "I wonder where mommy and daddy are?" she asked herself looking at the clock "If only I knew how to read time…"_

_Just at the moment, an officer came inside the house surprising her. The officer kneeled down to her. "Hikari, I'm here to send you to another family who will take care of you"_

"_What?" _

"_Your parents are in the hospital, along with your brother, so for right now, I need to take you to a different family"_

_She nodded and walked out of the house not knowing what else would lie ahead for her._

"Then that happened" she remembered

_Once she was seven, she was told that her parents didn't remember her which was something she didn't understand. _

_At the hospital, she was walking past a room and saw a boy in there. She smiled "It's Tai!" she thought in her head and ran to his bedside. He smiled back "Hi, what's your name?"_

"_Huh? Don't you know me? I'm Hikari, you're sister" she answered_

_He paused "My sister? I'm sorry, you must be thinking of the wrong person. I don't have any sisters"_

_A nurse was passing by and saw Hikari near Tai and quickly ran over to her. "Hikari, you're in the wrong room, let's see…why don't you wait in the lobby?" as she pushed her gently away _

"_Wait, that's my brother" _

"_You must be tired" she answered changing the subject and closed the door behind her _

"_Now, go downstairs in the lobby and wait down there"_

_She looked at the nurse "……..okay…."_

_End of Flashback_

"But I don't get it, what was the accident that happened? Why didn't they remember me that time?… There's so many things I don't understand that happened years ago" she thought and looked at Tai "I wonder…if Tai really knew I was his sister…"

………………………………

Another morning

"Did you hear? There's going to be a new kid" Junpei sighed

Tomoki looked at him "What? is that supposed to be a bad thing?"

"What he means, is that it's obvious more people are uniting against us with every new student in school" Rika explained

Izumi looked at them "It can't be that bad" nodding at Juri who smiled with sympathy and looked away. Or at someone else.

She looked at the direction Juri was looking at, it was a boy with Takuya and the other guys. She whispered over to her "Juri, do you like Takato?"

She blushed slightly "……um… I don't really know him that well…"

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone" she laughed as she sighed in relief.

Their teacher suddenly walked in ordering her students to sit in their seats. "You can come in now" she pointed at the doorway.

He nodded and walked in the classroom standing in front of everyone. "This is Kouji, he's a new student here starting today" announced the teacher and motioned him to sit down next to an empty desk. Izumi looked at him "He looks familiar…." and looked at Kouichi's desk 'Huh? Kouichi's absent?" she thought

At the very same moment Kouichi came running in "Sorry, I'm late" he apologized and sat down in his seat. He looked over to see who was sitting next to him since no one usually sat there. He stood up quickly and yelled at Kouji "WHO ARE YOU?!?"

"uh, Kouji, you would've known that if you came on time" he answered and looked at Kouichi and suddenly became surprised too.

"WHAT THE HECK? WHY DO YOU LOOK JUST LIKE ME?!" they both yelled at each other

Izumi along with the rest of the class stared at them "They really do look alike…." everyone thought


	4. Hear the truth

_The Orphan Flower_

_Kouji_

_Orphan?_

_Unanimous _

_Just lonely_

_It's life_

**Kouichi: Why are you doing his name first?!**

**Kouji: I'm older**

_Kouichi_

_Orphan?_

_U don't know_

_I don't know_

_Cheerful_

_Happy_

_Irritates people around him_

**Kouji: nice**

**Kouichi: hey!**

Back to the story

"You look exactly like me!" pointed Kouichi

Remaining calm, Kouji looked at him "I guess I'm flattered you want to be like me" making the class laugh

"Students! Settle down! Kouchi sit down!" yelled their teacher

He nodded and sat back down in his seat glaring at Kouji at the same time. "Who is this weird idiot?" he thought

………………..

"Kouchi!" yelled his friends as he looked at them tiredly

"Why didn't you tell us that you had a twin?" asked Tomoki excitedly

He put his hand in a time out sign "Wait, wait. First, I don't have a twin brother. Second, if I did, I wouldn't want to be a twin with that idiot"

"You're right, I don't want to be a brother with an idiot with you" responded Kouji out of nowhere

He turned to him and pointed at him "YOU!"

"Congrats. You finally figured out who I am" Kouji sarcastically commented

The others in the hallway couldn't help it but laugh as they were passing by. "Oh Kouichi, you can be such an idiot at times" a girl announced

Izumi looked at the familiar gang "Oh don't worry" she said turning to her friends "It's only the wanna-be dorks"

"Nice, well unlike you guys who are the wanna-be normal kids" laughed Mimi

"You guys really irritate me when you do this" Kouji muttered walking away from the fight. Everyone looked at him and each other and began to walk towards their classes.

"Well at least that stopped them" Juri smiled

Rika paused "Well that's true….but it's kind of strange about Kouichi and Kouiji.

They're look alikes, and about the same in one way"

"HE AND I ARE NOT THE SAME!" Kouichi objected

"They're the same" they laughed

……………………………….

**Outside**

"Class, I want all of you to come one by one and pick a piece of paper with a number on it, that way, the person with the same number as yours, is obviously going to be your partner for this project" the teacher cheerfully announced going around to each student as they picked numbers.

Juri picked a number and looked at it "5?" she asked

"Hey, that's the same number I have" smiled Takato

Nervously she nodded and looked down "What should I say?" she thought as everyone began to listen to the directions. Later, everyone sat in different areas on the ground with a clipboard in their hands.

Takato sat down across from her "Do you want to start first?" as she nodded and read every question to him, as he answered. When it was time to switch, he began asking her questions.

"Are you new here?" he asked

She nodded "Yes, I am"

"What school did you used to attend?"

"It used to be a school in the orphanage, before they needed to relocate it"

He looked at another question on the paper "Are you living with your parents? or are they apart?"

She paused for a moment "I….used to live with both of my parents…I was younger at the time so I don't remember much, but……..I know that they didn't get along well….and……." she tried to explain. He reached his hand out to her but she quickly looked at him and smiled weakly 'I'm sorry, that's all I remember… um… let's go to the next question"

He nodded "I had no idea…" he thought

………………………..

"Hey Kouichi, how did you do with your partner?" Izumi asked

He glared at her "Don't. even. start."

Rika crossed her arms and sighed "He and his partner didn't bother asking a single question to each other. All they did was have a comeback war."

She looked at Rika confused "What?"

"I mean, his partner was Kouji"

"ah, I see" she nodded as she began to burst out laughing "I can really imagine that!"

"Hey! It's not funny!" he yelled

……………………………….

"Kouchi, will you please get the mail? I think I forgot to get them" his mother asked

He stood up from the chair and opened the door. "There's nothing to do anyways" he muttered looking at the mail.

"Geez, I can't even go home without seeing you here" a familiar voice sighed

He faced the person "Kouji? What are you doing in this apartment building?"

He rolled his eyes "I live here" and pointed at the door right next door to him"

"No way! I have to live right next to you?!" he exclaimed

"What's all the commotion about?" two adults asked at the same time opening the doors to look at the boys.

"Uh, hi mom!" Kouichi nervously greeted

Kouji looked at his dad "Sorry, about that"

The two parents became confused and looked at each other. Kouichi looked over at the man and his eyes widened "Dad? is that you?" he asked

The man looked at him along with Kouji "You look just like my son…" he responded

His mother quickly took Kouichi and announced "Sorry, it's getting late" and slammed the door behind them. She sighed and looked at Kouichi "I don't want you getting near them again" she ordered

He looked at her confused "Why? Wasn't that dad?"

She looked at him "O-Of…course n-not, you've probably mistaken him as someone else" and walked into the kitchen.

He stared at her "Is there something you're not telling me mom?"


	5. A Result

_The Orphan Flower_

_Just me, I'm always lonely_

_U and I_

_Relate _

_In some way_

"Kouichi!" cried Tomoki happily greeting him as they walked to school.

He nodded calmly and continued walking. The others looked at each other in surprised and confusion wondering if something went wrong. "Are you okay Kouichi?" Juri asked worriedly

He paused "Yeah….but there's something I have to tell you" as his friends nodded in agreement.

…………………..

"Eh?" Izumi exclaimed along with the others "Kouichi? A twin?"

He nodded "My mom explained the whole story to me yesterday. Apparently Kouji just so happens to be my twin brother"

"Unfortunately" Kouji announced out of nowhere

He glared at his twin "Ha! Well guess what? I'm older than you!" he pointed

Kouji rolled his eyes "Did you just figure that out?"

"Eh? Kouichi is older than Kouji?" Juri asked in amazement

Tomoki shook his head "That's weird…..Kouji is well, more mature than Kouichi"

"HEY!" Kouichi responded

"If that's so" began Izumi "Then Kouji…why did you say that you were older last time?"

He sighed "I thought it would make more sense since older siblings are usually not "this hyperactive" he explained and pointing to his brother

She nodded "Makes sense….but it doesn't mean that you didn't confuse me or the readers"

…………………………..

"sigh…… soon, they just have to come and go, huh?" Rika muttered as the class went outside for a free period.

Izumi turned to her "Now what are you trying to say?" already having a feeling something was going to come up

"Soon, Kouichi won't hang out with us…."

She gave her friend a weird look "Look, I don't get why you have these feelings that our friends will stop being our friends"

"Well, I was right about Hikari right?" she stated

"Rika…..you used to call her Kari…" Izumi remembered in her head and shook her head "Maybe so, but I don't see why Kouichi would do the same. He hates his twin"

She turned to her "It doesn't mean that he will change his mind in the future right? Look at when he talks to Kouji, he doesn't truly hate him, and even Kouji finds this amusing the way they communicate to each other"

Looking down, she had to agree "You're right…..but don't you remember? We're friends, a gang of orphans"

"Kouichi isn't really an orphan. He lives with their mom, and Kouji stays with their dad. Their parents are divorced."

Rika looked at Izumi's reaction in hearing this information "What? You didn't know?" she asked as she shook her head.

"Then why did he befriend us?" she wondered "If he's not an orphan…..then why is he hanging out with us all this time?"

……………………………….

"What's wrong with everyone nowadays?" Izumi yelled in her mind walking downstairs. "…….I can't figure out what I'm doing….what am I doing wrong……"

"So Junpei, you and Tomoki have to transfer out of this school today right?" she heard her friend ask

"Yeah, we have to transfer" he said sadly

"Why?" she heard a voice that sounded like Juri

Tomoki sighed "Well, first of all, we have to move to a different house since we got adopted together into a family" he explained

"Adopted?" Izumi thought

"So, it'll be a while when we see each other again, but we'll keep in contact" Rika said

"Yeah, it's a bit to bad we had to live in a far place from here" agreed the two boys as they walked out of the school building. "So long……." they waved

Izumi turned away hiding from them so they wouldn't see her. Tears began to fall as she tried to wipe them away "Why am I crying?" she asked herself "I'm so stupid, of course I know why……I have to stop crying….." she tried to remind herself, but it didn't work.

"First it was Hikari……then Kouichi, now suddenly Junpei and Tomoki?…..we aren't even a group anymore….." she counted "This only leaves me with Rika and Juri…..but who knows……..maybe I'll be alone in the end-"

Interrupting her thoughts, she noticed someone was standing in front of her handing her a handkerchief. Looking at who gave it to her, it was Takuya who gave her a sympathetic look. She took it scolding herself "I shouldn't be crying in public, especially if he happens to come around"

……………………………

At the Park

Walking towards the park, she sat on the swings with nothing to do. "It's not like anyone is waiting at home for me anyways….."

"Have a lot on your mind?" asked a familiar voice

She keep quiet for a moment as she heard him sit on the swing beside her. "Takuya" she said without having to look at him

"You seemed to have a lot of things on your mind today"

She gave him a weird look "I'm surprised you noticed"

"Just being a good friend"

She stood up "Thanks, but don't consider me as your friend right away. You and I live in two different worlds"

He stood beside her "Maybe so, but do you really have a reason why we can't be friends?"

She shook her head "No, but I think it's best that way..." she muttered walking away from him adding "Especially if you don't want to get hurt…"


	6. Never Ending Story

_The Orphan Flower_

_Too little_

_Orphan_

_Mom and Dad will still be my parents_

_Often forgotten_

_Kid that's too young to understand_

_I'm Sorry_

"Class, okay, I already know about teenagers like you always acting sarcastic to your parents, but I think we should do something to show that we appreciate them" their teacher said sternly. "This will be a grade, I want you to write about what your thoughts are, and of course a parent's signature to prove you did the project".

Without caring about what the teacher was saying, Rika continued to nod looking at her friends. Seeing Izumi's reaction she became worried "Uh oh, this is a no no for Izumi" she thought.

After class, when it was time for everyone to go home, Izumi stayed behind to talk to the teacher about the project.

"Why do I have to do this project?" she argued with the teacher.

"It's for a grade!"

She glared at him "You already know that I don't have any parents"

He sighed "Don't make any excuses, especially if I know orphans like you killed your own parents".

Leaving her speechless she stormed out of the classroom and couldn't believe that someone would say such a thing. "They don't understand!" she yelled in her head.

"It's no one's fault…" she kept repeating in her head. "Even if they say it was me…".

"Sigh! I knew this would happen" Rika muttered as she and Juri waited outside of the classroom. Juri looked at her "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, Izumi is pissed about the project, and obviously the teacher isn't going to give her any other choice but to fail it."

She gave Rika a questioning look. "So if you knew that this was going to happen… then, why did you let her do that? You could have told her"

She shook her head "No Juri, because sometimes there are things that shouldn't be said or heard. Besides what bad things do, come out with good things".

"I hope you're right".

"Ah, here she comes now" Rika announced glancing at Izumi who was walking towards them. Juri smiled and waved, knowing that something bad was about to happen.

"I hate this project!" Izumi muttered banging her head on her locker.

Rika leaned over to Juri, "For a moment there, she kinda reminded me of Takuya." making them giggle. They suddenly stopped when they noticed her glaring at the two.

"Y'know, you really don't have to do the project" Rika reminded her.

"But it's for a grade, I'll fail"

"So? It's not like any parents are going to yell at you for that"

"Wait! She's right!" Izumi realized "Still, I'm really not in the mood to be a drop out student. How can I do this project?"

"You're not the only one" Juri assured.

"Besides, it wasn't your fault that at that time a long time ago when you were a kid, that your parents-" Rika began.

Izumi's face reddened "Shut up! I don't want to talk about it!" and walked away from them.

…………………

"Why did I say that?!" she yelled in her head, "They didn't deserve that, but I really didn't want to talk about it!" as rain began to fall. She glared at the sky "The skies are doing this on purpose, what a coincidence" as she was getting wet. "I can't even think right…"

……………….

The Next Morning

"Good Morning, are you awake?" a cheerful voice began.

"Huh?" Izumi thought as she began to wake up. "That's weird, I don't remember getting a wake up call, in fact… how did this person get in the house?" she wondered, as she rubbed her eyes to see who it was. Realizing, she glared "Takuya?"

"Aw, first I see your cute sleeping face, and when you see me, your attitude suddenly changed." he pouted.

There was a pause between the two. "Wait, what are you doing here? Are you a pervert? A stalker? How did you get in?" she asked all at once also ready to smack him.

"Wait wait!" he started before he was beaten up. "First of all, this is my house, second, I'm not a pervert or a stalker. It's obvious that I got in because this is where I live." he answered. "Plus, you should thank me."

"Thank you?! For what?"

He glanced at her "You were on the ground in the rain. When I found you, you had a fever, I was nice enough to take care of you."

"I fainted?" she thought and looked away "I guess I could say thanks" she started making him smile a little, but she wasn't finished "but, you should've left me there…"


	7. Fever Maniac

_The Orphan Flower_

_Too young to understand_

_And to learn_

_Kids these days_

_Answer from what they know from their hearts_

_Talk_

_Open up_

"Leave you out there in the rain?" Takato repeated, seeing her glare at him. He shook his head, "I think the fever is getting to you" he began as he felt her forehead.

She moved away slightly. "Don't touch me!" she began to argue.

"Izumi, I'm only checking to see if you have a fever. I take that as a yes since your face is pretty red right now." he explained.

"Don't be such a pervert" she glared again at him, slightly blushing. "I don't get this guy." she thought. Glancing at him, he smirked making her blush even more and threw a pillow at him. "Stop staring!" she yelled as he dodged the flying object at him.

"Yep, just as I thought" he announced.

"Thought what?!" she glared.

Walking closer to her, almost face to face inches apart, he said, "You need to stay home today."

"Y-You idiot! Stop joking around!"

"I'm not joking."

"Then why are you laughing?!"

"It's the reaction on your face that I'm laughing about."

"I GIVE UP!" finally giving in.

Patting her head, he smiled. "That's a good girl, just stay still and rest up."

"You make that sound wrong."

"At least we aren't doing "anything" wrong…"

It was silent between them, before she threw another pillow at him.

At School

"Hm…" Takato thought looking over at his friend's desk. "Takuya is absent today…" also checking another desk that was empty. "So is Orimoto…"

Juri who also noticed Izumi's absence began wondering. "I wonder if she was still mad at us about yesterday, she tends to do that now and then. "But" since Takuya is gone also…" glancing at the empty seat, "I have a feeling that they are both together for some reason."

At that very same moment, Juri and Takato caught eye contact, quickly turning away blushing. "Oh no, why am I blushing?" Juri asked herself.

Takuya's House

"At least her fever is gone." Takuya mumbled to himself as he took the wet cloth away. He felt her forehead to see if she was fine and smiled. "That Izumi, when she's sleeping, she's like a regular girl…" enjoying the sight that she looked innocent when she slept and not the rebel like girl he saw at school.

Closing the door behind him, he felt tired. "She better not be spreading the fever on me. I'll just rest for a moment until she wakes up." he planned out, before falling asleep.

After a few hours, school had already ended, Izumi began to wake up feeling better. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. "I forgot…this is someone else's house." she remembered before getting out of bed. Quietly opening the door, she peeked both ways in the hallway for anyone. "I guess no one is around, she shrugged as she walked downstairs seeing a sleeping Takuya on the couch.

"That stupid google head, falling asleep like that." she muttered as she got closer to him. For some odd reason, she began to smile. "You still are an idiot."

"At least you're feeling better." he answered opening his eyes to look at her. She stared at him in disbelief. "Were you pretending to be asleep?"

"At bit of that. I woke up when I heard you coming downstairs, and decided to be "asleep" for the moment."

Before she could say anything, they both heard a door open and close and a woman's voice announced. "Takuya could you please lend me a hand-" she began and noticed the blond girl and smiled. "Oh! I didn't know you had a visitor today!"

"Mother, meet Izumi Orimoto, my girlfriend" he introduced.

Her eyes lightened up. "This is your girlfriend?!"

"TAKUYA KANBARA!" Izumi began as she chased after him as he continued laughing.


	8. Let's be friends

_The Orphan Flower_

_Just be yourself_

_Everyone likes that_

_Never change_

_Remember who your true friends are_

_You'll figure out how_

_And cherish them_

"I'm glad that I left that place." muttered Izumi the next morning as everyone gathered inside the classroom.

Juri looked at her friend. "Did you say something?"

"Oh no, it's nothing. No more Takuya Kanbara for me" she accidentally let it slip.

Rika turned to her in surprise. "So, there is a boy involved in the mystery of why you were absent yesterday." she stated.

"It wasn't my fault!" she argued. "He wouldn't let me leave until my fever had calmed down."

"Eh…" Juri began. "Knowing you, I thought you would have beaten him up within seconds, right?" she asked as Rika nodded in agreement.

"I couldn't. That stupid goggle head was sucking all of my energy."

"And that typical goggle head would be?" a voice asked out of nowhere.

"Takuya Kanbara." she simply answered without turning around, knowing it was him.

He laughed. "You know, I never knew you would give in, that easily."

"Stupid! You wouldn't let me leave!"

"You had a fever."

"Who cares?"

Takuya didn't say anything for a moment, and muttered. "I do." before walking away from them.

Juri leaned over to Izumi and whispered. "I think he likes you Izumi."

She only shook her head. "I don't know why, but I'll make sure he doesn't fall for me."

"I guess that makes another thing. You probably don't want to fall for him." Rika added.

"……………………….."

"Am I right?"

"I won't fall for him." she reminded herself.

…………………………

Lunch

"Orimoto! Is it true that you were at Takuya's house yesterday?!" Mimi demanded.

"Yes, and no." Izumi answered without a care.

"Why?!" more girls asked.

She looked at them with a bored look. "Well, first of all-" but before she could continue on, someone else interrupted.

"Well you see, she's my girlfriend." Takuya grinned.

"WHAT?!" they yelled, that even the guys almost choked on their food.

Takato looked at his friend in shock. "And you didn't tell me?"

"Takuya." Izumi fumed.

"Yes my dear?" he smiled.

She glared at him. "Run."

………………………..

"Argh! Takuya annoys me!" Izumi complained as she and Rika were walking home from school. "I don't get why he's calling me his girlfriend!"

"Like we said earlier, he likes you." Rika repeated.

"That's just it." Izumi started. "Why? Doesn't he know what my reputation is like at school? Can't he get it through his head?"

"Y'know, you could've just asked him. Plus, this guy seems to be a bit different from the others I've observed." she explained.

"I'll just find some way to scare him off…" sighed Izumi and noticed her house and turned around. "I'll see you tomorrow at school Rika, bye" and opened the gate to enter the house, as her friend nodded walking silently alone.

15 Minutes Later

Rika was still walking alone, pretty capable of herself. "Only a few more blocks to go" she thought in her head, but heard footsteps behind her making her stop on her tracks. She glanced behind her and glared. "I know you're following me."

"So you caught me." a familiar voice laughed.

Still unsure of who this person was, she asked. "Just who are you?"

"You don't remember me?" he asked walking out of the darkness revealing his identity.

At first, she didn't know who he was and suddenly gasped. "R-Ryo?"


	9. Over it until you came

_The Orphan Flower_

_Too dense?_

_And _

_Idiotic _

Back to the scene

Rika glared at Ryo, who just smiled back. "What's with the attitude Rika? Surprised to see me?"

Rolling her eyes, she began to walk away. "More like, let's just pretend I don't know you."

Ignoring the fact that she was trying to avoid the subject, and "person", he continued to follow her walking side by side. Knowing that she was going to avoid eye contact with him, he decided to break the silence between them. "So, how's the family going?"

Rika continued to keep silent, making Ryo wonder if she was really that mad. But before he could ask any more, she muttered. "I live right here."

"Huh?" as he glanced at the gate in front of them. The sign that said "Nonaka" proved that Rika lived there, and nodded as he was leaving. "Okay then, I'll just see you later Rika."

"Whatever." slamming the gates loudly and making sure it was locked so that he wouldn't get in.

………….

School

"Did you guys hear about the new kid?" Mimi whispered in the hallway to her friends, as they shook their heads. "His name is Ryo Akiyama!"

"Oh please, he's not that great." Rika mumbled passing by them. Luckily for them, they didn't hear the comment, except for Izumi who gave her a weird look.

"Do you know this guy?" asked Izumi who was starting to become interested in the subject that her friend may start a liking into someone.

"Unfortunately yes." she replied bluntly.

She laughed softly. "I guess I'm not the only one around here who's being followed by a guy."

"Pumpkin!" announced a cheery voice.

"Not him again…" Rika thought knowing that without having to turn back, it had to be Ryo. "What do you want Akiyama? Don't call me that again either."

"Nothing. Just wanted to say hello to you, is that a bad thing?" he teased.

"Yes, if it's you. You can make my life a lot easier if you weren't around."

"Ouch, that hurt." as he pretended to wince at her comment.

Izumi who was watching the whole scene, began to smile slowly. "So is this relationship special between you tw-"

"No! He's not!" Rika interrupted before walking away.

………………….

"For the last time Akiyama! What do you want?" Rika asked tiredly after school, already giving up the plan to avoid him.

Catching up to her pace, he just shrugged. "Nothing as usual. Just wanted to make sure you got home safely and get to know you more."

She stopped on her track and faced him. Pointing a finger in front of him, she explained. "Okay, one, I can take care of myself! Two, don't get any closer to me!"

Still remaining calm, he smirked. "Don't be bashful my lovely wife!"

"Who said I was going to be your wife?!" she fumed.

"Who else are you going to marry?"

"No one!"

He patted her head like a little kid. "There's no need to hide your feelings."

"Idiot! It's just you I hate."

Noticing that people were beginning to look at them, he muttered softly that Rika almost couldn't tell what he was saying. "Let's go before we make a scene."

For once, she actually did what Ryo had said. "Wait…why am I following his orders?!" she scolded herself. "Okay, now what do you want?"

"Are you going to ask me that all day?" he sighed.

She glared. "Yes, if you keep following me."

He looked away. "Let's just change the subject. How's your family?"

"What family?" she shot back at him. "Uh oh, this isn't going to turn into a good subject." she realized, but couldn't stop herself from saying it.

"Y'know, your mother and grandmother."

"What would you want to know about them?" she asked folding her arms, hoping that he wouldn't ask the question.

"Is it really that hard to ask such a simple question?"

"That's not a simple question. Besides, I'm sure that they are in a happy plac-" and quickly covered her mouth before she would accidentally slip about what happened.

He gave her a surprised look, which changed seeing her reaction. "Did something happen?"

Her face began to turn red and quickly muttered. "It's nothing."

"C'mon Rika, you can tell me" reaching his hand out to her.

"Shut up! I don't need your sympathy!" she yelled back, slapping his hand away. Without thinking, she started to run away from him, but he grabbed her wrist. "What did I do to make you feel this way?"

She kept silent, unsure of how to say it. "I hate you Akiyama."

"So this also had to do with me leaving three years ago?" he questioned.

"So what if it did?! Why would you care? Ever since you left… they died! and at the time I needed you most! You were gone! That's why I hate you!" she suddenly let out, as her true emotions that she had kept hidden for years began to show. Tears were falling as she took her hand out of his grasp and ran away.


	10. When did I remember

_The Orphan Flower_

_Retarded sometimes_

_Young kid_

_Oh, and ignore him_

"Oh, it's a bit too bad that it's raining today…" Juri announced after school with her friends as she glanced at the skies. "I hope it won't rain when we go to Takato's party."

"We?" Izumi repeated in surprise. She shook her head. "Juri, you forgot, Rika and I are only going for your safety…I could care less than that stupid pool party on Friday." and looked at Rika. "Isn't that right?"

The brunette girl didn't respond until Izumi began waving her hand in front of her face. "Oh, what?" she asked.

"Never mind." Izumi sighed.

………………..

P.E class

"Class! This week, our unit will be on swimming since it's almost close to summer." Their teacher loudly ordered as she blew her whistle for the students to get changed.

"W-Wait…" Rika said. "D-Did our teacher just say s-swimming? As in pool water? Deep water?" she panicked and asked her friends to make sure she heard right.

"Oh Rika!" Juri grinned. "Of course we are! Swimming is fun!"

"Besides." added Izumi. "It's not like you're scared of water right? One of our school's toughest girls afraid of water?" as she and Juri giggled at the thought.

"Uh…right." she nodded nervously. "I need to tell the teacher something, I'll see you guys later." and quickly ran out the door.

Her friends stood there confused and glanced at each other. In unison, they both asked. "Was it something we said?"

Meanwhile….

"Fine, I'll let you sit out for today." the adult sighed and pointed to the benches. "Just sit over there."

"Thank you." Rika sighed in relief as she headed over to the benches and sat down. Noticing everyone gathering around the pool and chatting, she wondered how she was going to explain herself to her friends.

"You know, the past isn't going to disappear magically." a familiar voice interrupted.

Recognizing the voice without having to look behind her, she muttered. "Thanks for the help Ryo."

He sat down beside her. "I know you weren't always afraid of water, and that past can't be erased."

She hated how he had to point the obvious and past back again. Knowing that she had to face it one day, she shrugged. "I guess I'm not over it, and it doesn't mean I forgive you."

"Your mother and grandmother always told me to look after you."

"Do you have to point "that" out?" she asked irritably. Glaring at his reaction, she couldn't help but just keep quiet. "I know they trusted you…" she muttered.

_Flashback_

_All that Rika could remember years ago at the time of the accident was that it was raining, and she was in the car. One moment…the car was on the road…and suddenly… it was in the river! She panicked looking at the status of her mother and grandmother, looking pale. "I can't…breathe…" she thought. Noticing people coming to their rescue to save them from drowning underwater…she fell unconscious._

"_Rika…Rika…" a voice called._

_She woke up finding herself in the hospital_ _and people around her. Confused with what was going on at the moment, she asked. "Where am I?"_

"_You were lucky enough that your friend here, was able to save you. You were almost close to dying from too much water." the nurse explained to her and pointed to Ryo beside her._

"_What about…my…" she began and noticed the doctor's reaction who shook his head sadly. At first…she was quiet that she couldn't think. Instead of feeling sad…she felt angry. "Why?!" she yelled. "Why did you save me and not them?!"_

_End of Flashback_

"Painful memory comes back?" Ryo asked noticing her trying to fully remember that accident.

She glared at him. "I hate you."

"If you want, I can teach you."

"Teach me what?" she asked still glaring at him.

"How to swim of course, you've been avoiding water since that day."

"Idiot! I know how to swim!" she pointed at him.

He smirked. "Really?" and seeing her nod, he glanced over at the pool where the rest of the others were at. "Then prove it."


	11. Even death is playing the game

_The Orphan Flower_

_Shinya_

_He's Takuya's younger brother_

_Immature? Hey, he's still a kid._

_Never leave unattended _

_Yes, he's in the story_

_And so, we continue on…_

"So Rika?" Ryo began to ask as he saw her glancing at the pool water in front of them. "What are you going to do?"

"Ryo."

He turned to her and smiled. "Yes?"

Pointing at something in the water, which was nothing, she simply replied. "I dropped my earring in the water."

Confused he leaned closer to look at the water. "Where? I don't see-" but was cut off when Rika pushed him in the pool and walked away.

"Oh, and by the way." she added before leaving the area. "I'm not wearing any jewelry in case you haven't noticed."

………………………..

Takato's Party

"Go on Juri. Go talk to him." Izumi urged her brunette friend who was too shy to walk up to him.

"I'm too nervous!" she argued and sat down between them. She looked over at the boy who was talking happily with his friends. "Besides, I don't want to interrupt."

"Interrupt?" the blond asked as she began laughing. "There's no interrupt in party. The more the merrier they always say."

"Speak of the devil." Rika mumbled as they turned to see familiar faces from school.

"Hey, Rika look! It's Ryo!" Izumi announced loudly on purpose to receive his attention. As he saw Izumi point to him he smiled and waved and walked over to them.

"Izumi…" Rika muttered only to find that her two friends were walking away, grinning.

Juri looked at her friends worriedly. "Is it alright to leave her like that Izumi?"

"Oh, don't worry. I trust Ryo." she grinned as they walked elsewhere to hang out.

Without having to look at him coming towards her, she sat on the edge of the pool and continued looking at the water and how deep it was.

"Hey Rika!" the annoying voice continued.

"Ryo." she mumbled.

"Rika."

"Ryo."

"Pumpkin?"

Suddenly receiving glares and almost being drowned to death, he gave up. "Geez, calm down…Rika."

"That wasn't funny." she glared.

"I'm sorry." he sighed as he looked away.

Without hesitation, she quickly answered. "You're not forgiven."

"Well, I know a way that you can forgive me." he smirked as he looked at someone

behind her.

Rika, who noticed him looking at someone behind her, suddenly realized that she was going to be pushed in. Before she could do anything, she was already given a push into the pool. Swimming up to the surface, she glared at Henry and Ryo.

"If you forgive me, I'll save your life." Ryo announced. "Are we agreed?"

"Never!" she shot back.

He gave her a worried look. "You're going to drown if you don't know how to swim."

"I'd rather take death than be here with you." as her words accidentally slipped out. She saw Ryo's expression turn into worry and hurt. "Oops I hurt his feelings." she noted, but shook her head. "Why do I care how that hero boy feels?! He's right…if he doesn't save me soon… no, I meant: if no one else is going to help me…I'm seriously going to drown………….but then again… my life was never full of love and care. Remembering that……really hurts…" as she sighed and let herself sink in the water.

"Rika!"

………………………….

"Juri, tell Takato that I have to take an early leave." Izumi told her friend as she gathered her belongings.

"W-What?" she asked in disbelief that her friend was going to dismiss herself and leave her behind.

"Sorry, I'll make it up to you some other time." the blond quickly muttered and walked out of the house. "I'm really glad that I could get out of that party."

"Takato's house is pretty big…" Izumi remembered. "I wonder why I never took notice of it." checking her watch, she sighed tiredly. "I don't know what to do at this time. It's not even dinner yet." and heard kids running around and swings.

Turning around, she smiled slightly as she saw that she was passing by the park. "Well, it couldn't hurt to visit, could it?" as she sat down on one of the swings and looked up at the sky. "If Mom and Dad were here, they would've teased me for coming here." as she laughed remembering something from childhood, and checked to see who was still in the park. "Hm… Don't I know that kid?" she wondered as she saw a boy shoveling in the sandbox all alone.

Suddenly appearing next to him in the sandbox the boy almost fell out from the sudden appearance.

"Am I really that scary?" she asked him, confused that it was the first reaction she received from him.

"W-Well, you appeared out of nowhere." the boy shrugged as he continued making a sand mountain.

"Sorry, I thought you were someone I knew." she apologized.

His eyes suddenly brightened up. "Oh, you must know my brother Takuya!"

"That idiot……is related to this kid?" Izumi thought. "Yeah, I guess you could say, I know him."

"He went to a friend's party. It was at Takato's house." the boy explained in case she was planning to ask. "My brother has lots of fan girls and often, they take me for ransom."

She shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm not a fan girl. I don't even like him that way."

He stopped building his sand mountain project and gazed at her. "You know… if you were Takuya's girlfriend…you'd be the coolest girlfriend he ever had!" he commented.

"We just met, how can you judge me so fast?"

Smiling just like his older brother he shrugged. "Just a feeling. I'm Shinya by the way."

Interrupting what Izumi was about to say. He answered for her. "And you're Izumi, I know."

"H-How…" she wanted to know.

Shinya laughed. "Do you know how obsessed my brother is with you?"

"I don't think I want to know." she muttered as they looked at each other laughed.

"Shinya!" a familiar voice sang.

"Oh no, it's Mimi." Shinya mumbled hoping his sand mountain would hide him.

The pink haired girl who already spotted him giggled. "Found you!" she pointed ignoring

the fact that Izumi was also there. She grabbed his hand and announced. "Your brother is waiting for you at Takato's house." and dragged him away.

"What a weird moment." Izumi thought in her opinion. "Why do people come at the most obvious scenes?" as she grabbed her bag that was beside her and walked out of the park.

As she was passing by Takato's place the second time, she didn't take notice that she was walking around the block, ending up where she started in the first place.

"Shinya come back!" a voice yelled out of the house, causing her to look at the scene across the road. Seeing that he was running away from the house and running across the

street, he didn't realize what was coming towards him. Hearing that a car was going to come by, she panicked silently. "Shinya is going to be hit by the car."

Taking no chances, she ran into the road and pushed Shinya out of the way, leaving her where she was fated to be in, as she fell painfully to the ground. "At least… I got him out

of the way……..that's all that matters……"


	12. Reality check: Don't worry about me

_The Orphan Flower_

_Make-up, shopping, pink is her thing_

_Irritating most of the time _

_Mood: fangirl_

_Is she vain? _

**Hospital**

"Is Rika okay?" Juri asked worriedly about to fall in tears, but held it in once Takato told her it was okay and nodded. "I'm worried about Izumi too." she wanted to added looking at the other door which was the room she was being held in.

While the rest of the gang waited for either doors to open, they did nothing but either talk quietly or walk around. Until finally a doctor came out of one of the rooms, which was Izumi's.

"How is she?" Juri suddenly asked surprising everyone that she actually spoke up. "Is she fine?"

"Nothing to worry about." the doctor smiled. "In fact, she didn't get hit at all, but she had only minor injuries."

"Eh?" everyone asked unison disbelieving what they were just hearing.

"You see, your friend did manage to push the boy off the road to keep him safe. She was also lucky that the driver of the car stopped immediately before hitting anyone. Only minor injuries because she fell pretty hard on the road pavement." the doctor quickly explained to the group.

"C-Can we go see her?" the brown haired girl continued to ask, as she suddenly smiled seeing him nod and ran into the room.

---------

"Izumi?" Juri peeked from the doorway to see her blond friend smiling at her and motioning her to come in.

"Come in Juri, I'm don't bite." Izumi joked as her friend walked in smiling at her also. "So, I'm guessing everyone is all worried about me and they must be waiting to see me ne?"

"Yep." the brunette agreed. "Especially Shinya and Takuya."

"Like brother to brother." Izumi muttered turning away so she wouldn't hear her.

"Huh?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing. So how did Rika do with Ryo? Still arguing?" but only received a gasp from her. "What?"

"Y-You didn't hear?" Juri gasped, and became worried again remembering about their other friend that was also in the hospital.

"Well obviously I'm currently in the hospital at the moment and I just woke up, so no I guess not." she answered with an obvious look.

"W-Well…" Juri sighed and sat down on a chair beside the bed. "Rika, nearly drowned in the water, and Ryo was able to save her. She's right next door to us in fact, but she hasn't woken up so far." she quietly mumbled, but it was enough for Izumi to understand.

Instead of expecting Izumi to feel bad about the situation, she heard an unexpected laugh coming from her. "What's so funny? I could've lost you two! In fact, at the same time!"

"Well, of course we wouldn't leave you suddenly." Izumi pointed out as she still continued laughing but slowly began to calm down. "Besides, if we did leave, you'd have Takato by now." making Juri blush at the comment.

"N-N-No…" Juri stammered trying to avoid the subject of her crush. "He's only being nice."

"To you?" her friend finished.

"Yes." she answered and realized what she had just said and shook her head. "I mean no! He's just being nice to me, he's always nice to everyone."

"Whatever. You both like each other, I bet he's gonna walk you home today." the blond continued as she smiled. "He's a nice guy I admit. You guys would look good together."

"I-I'll see you tomorrow!" Juri quickly interrupted and ran out the door leaving her friend to only shake her head and mutter. "You still like him."

"Still like who?" another familiar voice suddenly interrupted making her look at the person who just walked in. "Are you okay by the way? How are you feeling?"

"What would a person like you being doing here Kanbara?" she glared as her smiling expression changed to kill this kid.

Takuya sighed as he put a hand on his forehead to cover his expression. "Yep, if you're talking like that, you're definitely okay."

Izumi still didn't say anything but just watched him sit down on the chair Juri previously sat. "Look. I just want to say I'm sorry, and thank you for saving my brother Shinya." and paused. "It really meant a lot to me. I mean… I never thought you would do something like that."

"Oh thanks, you making me the bad guy." she added seeing him glance up at her surprised.

"N-No I didn't mean it that wa-" he tried to explain but was cut off.

"Relax, I was only kidding Kanbara." she said as she slightly gave him a weak smile. "Besides, I would have done that for anyone. I didn't do that because he was your brother, or if he was even my friend. I only did that because I know that it was the right thing to do." as she started to smile at him but suddenly changed again." So don't think that we're suddenly fast friends because of this." she commanded.

"Alright." he sighed again. "You can still call me Takuya you know. I'm not that old."

"Hm, you're right, but I can't help it. You amuse me." Izumi sighed pretending like there was nothing else to do.

It was silent between them, until Takuya spoke up. "I guess I owe you huh?" and looked at her.

She thought about it and nodded. "Yep, I guess you do owe me, but I guess it doesn't matter."

"I could return you the favor." he answered quickly lightening up the conversation.

She gave him a suspicious look. "It better not be anything to do with going out with you, anything that has to do with me hugging, kissing, or even holding hands with you." she ordered, and seeing him shake his head no, she hesitated and gave in. "Okay."

Right after she said the word okay, she was suddenly being tickled by him. "H-Hey what are you doing?!"

"You never smile or laugh." Takuya smirked as he got closer and continued tickling her making her giggle.

"S-Stop! and o-of course I do!" Izumi shot back as she continued laughing making Takuya smile seeing her reaction.

"Hm, not at school, besides, laughter is the best medicine." he added.

"Q-Quit it T-Takuya!"

"Hey, you said Takuya instead of Kanbara!"

"I mean it! S-Stop T-T-That, ow! my arm is hurting!" she suddenly yelled aloud making him stop and get worried.

"I'm sorry, is your arm okay?" he asked worriedly looking at her only receiving a light slap across the face.

"Of course I'm okay! I did that to stop you from doing that." she glared sticking her tongue out at him. "Besides, this doesn't even hurt, I've been through a lot worse."

"Y-You have?"

She kept silent to avoid his question knowing that he was giving her a look, until someone else came inside. "Izumi onee-chan?" a younger boy asked. "It's you right?"

"Oh Shinya?" she asked surprised seeing him run to her as they hugged each other. "Haha, I missed you kiddo!"

"I'm sorry for what happened, I-" Shinya was about to announce to her, but Izumi just shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm still alive aren't I?"

"Y-Yes but-" he wanted to say only to be cut off again.

"Then don't worry so much. Geez, all of you are treating me like I'm going to die or something." she scolded him since she really didn't like receiving apologizes, even if they weren't her fault. "I wouldn't give up my life with people like you." she smiled.

-------------

"J-Juri?" a boy's voice asked who was standing behind her. "Are you leaving to go home?"

She almost jumped from him appearing so suddenly since she didn't realize that he was following her out of the hospital. "T-Takato…" she blushed and nodded. "Yeah, I have to go home."

"M-Mind if I…walk you home?" he offered as he stared at the ground worried of what her answer might be.

Boldly taking courage, she inhaled slowly and took his hand and smiled when he gave her a surprised glance. "Let's go then." as the two walked together home with smiles on their faces.


	13. Change of plans, Fate has other ideas

_**Orphan Flower**_

_**Sporty**_

_**Open minded**_

_**Rebel often**_

_**A girl on the inside**_

A few days later….

"How did I end up working in the kitchen with you?!" Izumi glared at the boy she always found annoying.

Takuya grinned. "Hey, at least I can protect you from burning the building down." as he gathered the ingredients and started mixing them into the bowl they were using.

"How did today turn out this way?" she sighed admitting defeat and looked for the spoon as she opened the drawers and cupboards.

Flashback of Earlier that Day-------------

"_Eh? She still hasn't woken up yet?" Izumi asked her friend on the phone as she sat down on one of the kitchen chairs to listen what else was new._

"_Yeah, not yet. I was thinking that we could make something for her, like cookies." the voice responded._

_It was quiet as she thought about it and agreed. "Okay, come at my house in an hour."_

"_Kay."_

_-------- hour later_

_Hearing the doorbell ring, she quickly ran towards the door, opening it slowly and frowned to see the goggle head boy. "Now what do you want? I'm not going to listen to your apologizes or let you do me favors if that's what you plan to do."_

_He shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I came by to tell you that Juri went with Takato and told me to tell you that she won't be coming by today, and she'll make it up to you."_

"_There goes my schedule…" she noted as her expression went gloomy, making it noticeable to Takuya._

"_Hey, she sent me here to help you, that's her make up favor!" he added with an optimistic expression, making her feel even worse. Seeing her reaction he smirked. "C'mon, it won't be that bad! Don't worry!"_

"_I think it's a little too late for that."_

----------- End of Flashback

"Hm, a little lost in thought?" his voice interrupting her flashback moment as he hugged her from behind on purpose to annoy her.

Making her blush suddenly, it made her annoyed again that he was making fun of her. "Let go of me Kanbara!"

"Mm, I think we look good in this position." he answered back disagreeing with her idea. "Until you finally call me Takuya, I'll let go."

"Never! Do you want to burn this place on fire?!" she exclaimed trying to point a hazardous reason, at the same time looking at the oven.

He thought about it thinking of a good excuse and smiled as he thought of one. "If it means us dying together and being together for an eternity, I'll be ok."

"Idiot! That's not what I'm talking about!" she sighed and noticed something odd about the oven and glanced at it. "Is something burning?"

"I bet it's our love burning with passion together."

Seeing smoke coming out of the oven, she knew what was going on now. "Takuya! The oven is burning!"

Ten Minutes Later

"Good thing we got the fire out before the smoke detector went on." the brown haired boy commented as they cleaned up the mess.

She winced hearing him say that. "I" told you to let go of me, otherwise, we wouldn't be doing this." as she glared at him, only to have him shrug it off.

He leaned closer to her and smiled. "And "I" told you to call me Takuya in order to let go. It's about time you finally did."

"You made me say it. It was the only way." she shot back and paused. "I don't get why you are so interested into making me call you that anyways."

"At least, the cookies are alright, here try one." he offered handing her a cookie.

Hesitating to take a simple sweet cookie from him, she raised her hand to take it and looked at it.

"Izumi. It's called a cookie, you eat it. Unless if I have to make you eat it." he reminded her.

"I know what a cookie is!" as she took a bite out of it and made a sour face. "I hate it." she muttered taking another bite.

He gave her a confused look seeing her eating it but saying she hated it. "So why are you still eating the cookie I made?"

Keeping quiet to avoid his gaze, she looked at the floor. "Because I love it." which surprised him as he was about to say something but she interrupted the moment. "I'd love the idea of having to sue you if I end up in the hospital because of this cookie!" she finished showing the cookie in his direction, making him shocked and turn away as he laughed.

"Why would you… want to sue me?" he asked still trying to calm himself from laughing again at her.

"Hm, I'd like to see you tortured for what you and your groupie has been doing to me and my friends." she simply said giving him a serious look. "And plus, I might need the extra money to pay for the house rent and so that I wouldn't have to work so much to pay off the rent here."

He stopped laughing as he heard this. "Hey, I already told you, my mom and I already agreed that you could live with us. Remember?"

Flashback of that Day-----------------

"_Hello mother! This is Izumi my girlfriend!" the goggle headed idiot announced with a grin making his mother shocked and suddenly proud as the blond began chasing him around the house._

"_Izumi my dear! I insist that you have dinner with us!" his mom exclaimed grabbing the two kids into the kitchen and sitting them down on the dining room chairs._

_Izumi's eyes went wide. "Uh… I'm sorry Mrs. Kanbara! I can't! I…"_

"_I insist!"_

_She couldn't help but sigh. "Alright, but do you mind if I can use your phone?" as she quickly ran to make a quick call. After a few minutes and hanging up the phone she sighed in relief that she was able to call for a day off from her work._

"_Called your parents?" Mrs. Kanbara asked as she and the two boys were finished setting up the table._

_Takuya gave his mom a serious look. "Izumi lives alone."_

_His mom almost dropping the plates on the floor couldn't help but keep silent and suddenly run over to hug Izumi. "How can a young girl like you be all alone?! You can live with us! Right Takuya? Shinya?" as she turned to glare at their direction to make them say yes._

"_No problem." he smirked seeing Izumi glaring at him._

_Shinya glanced up to their direction. "So I can have an onee-chan?! That's great!"_

_Before Izumi could say anything to protest, his mother continued on. "Oh, and we'll have you move into our house and you can stay in Takuya's room temporary! What else should we do?" as she babbled on what else for the house._

--------End of the Flashback

The blond girl opened her eyes from that memory of that day. "Oh yeah, I remember that."

He grinned. "See? You still remember it!"

"I remember declining it." she added giving him a smirk that she made him gloomy.

"Izumi, I know that having to stay even in a room with me is like torture and all-" he spoke up.

"You finally see how I feel." she muttered as she walked towards the bathroom to wash her hands since the kitchen sink was full of unwashed dishes.

"Listen, yes, I knew from the beginning. But it's not a healthy way to live your life alone, even though you have friends at school, you're alone here at home." following her to the kitchen as she began washing the dishes and joined in. "I'll help."

Repeating the words he said to her, it was silent between them as she thought about it, not knowing what to say back to him. "Now what can I say that would be understandable to this goggle headed idiot?" she wondered.

Once they were close to finishing, he was suddenly surprised that she touched his hand. "Alright. I'll move in, temporary." she stated handing him a cookie pan to rinse.

"W-What?" with a speechless reaction on his face that she would give in like that, only to receive a "I'm-not-going-to-repeat-that" look.

"I said temporary, not forever." she reminded him and an unexpected smile appeared on her face, a genuine smile, which was a pretty long time since she felt this way.

"Are my eyes deceiving me? Is the Izumi Orimoto smiling?" Takuya grinned nudging her slightly that he caught her actual personality.

Blushing madly, she took a handful of soap bubbles and threw them at him. "SHUT UP KANBARA!"

"Aw, what happened to the nice Izumi?"

------------------ Meanwhile at the hospital

While Rika, still unconscious at the moment lying down on the hospital bed with no friends to visit her, only one unexpected visitor came.

The pink haired girl walked in Rika's room and closed the door behind her and made sure no one was around to see her and with what she was planning to do. She gazed at Rika's expression which was nothing but an innocent look still sleeping unknown to her fate that has arrived.

"Such a pity that they said you wouldn't wake up yet." Mimi began sighing tiredly as a small pocketknife appeared in her grasp, looking at the oxygen tube that was a line up to the oxygen mask Rika was wearing. "I'm sorry you had to deal with this Rika." as she took the pocketknife close to the oxygen mask, as she smiled. "Sorry you would end up waking up in the afterlife…."


	14. Hm, Welcome to Mimi's New Play

_**Just a character**_

_**Um, he likes chocolate**_

_**Never have too much chocolate**_

_**Pretty lazy**_

_**Eats**_

_**I will now begin the story….**_

"Hey Izumi!" the brown haired boy greeted sitting down beside her. "Looks like we're in the same Biology class!" as he continued grinning only to receive nothing from her but blank looks.

Glancing at her assignment and back at him, she couldn't help but sigh. "Idiot, this is "Chemistry."

"I see that you feel it too." he responded with a dreamy look now receiving glares from the blond.

"Takuya, quit making lame pick up lines before you make me lovesick." as she turned away from him and continued her homework for class. "Maybe I shouldn't have said lovesick…" she thought.

He couldn't help but smile again. "Aw, so you really do care for me!"

Hearing that line almost made her pencil snap, as she slapped herself in the face. "Now…I know…how Rika feels with Ryo…" she muttered.

"Hey!" another voice interrupted, as she glanced at the person who sat behind her, to only see Ryo with a bored expression.

She stared at him in surprise. "Ryo? When did you get here?"

He rolled his eyes. "Wow, it's an amazement that you haven't noticed." as he smiled. "You're just like Rika in a way."

"Not only that, I'm in a class full of idiots…" Izumi muttered.

"I'm not exactly like an idiot like them you know." another boy added who happened to sit in front of her.

"Eh Kouji? Can you read my mind?" was all that she could say.

"No, you just happened to say it out loud." smirking as he said this.

"Stupid boys." she glared at all three, as she opened the textbook and tried her best to ignore them.

"Ah, it seems like Orimoto-san is getting annoyed." yet another boy teased who unfortunately sat two seats away from her.

She glared at the boy who said it. "Takato! I swear! If Juri wasn't in this class, I would shove those goggles down your throat!" making Juri blush hearing this, as Takato just had an amused expression.

"Seems like day by day, Izumi is becoming more like Rika."

"Kouichi, you're not helping."

……………………………

"Hm, I "wonder" how Rika is doing at the hospital." Mimi thought to herself as everyone left out of the school building after school. Walking over to her driver as he opened the door for her, she smiled. "Thanks, oh and can you drive me to the hospital? There's someone I want to see."

Already driving away from the school campus, she couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next. "This better be interesting."

…………………………..

Moments later, she walked into the hospital building walking through the hallways until she got towards her destination. Pausing to hear that there were doctors and nurses, she stood still to listen.

"Is she alright Doctor?" a nurse's voice asked as she checked her clipboard for the patient's name.

"We were lucky that she survived. It's a mystery on how her oxygen got cut off, but at least she's alright. Well….except for one thing." he agreed but sighed as he had to explain the bad news.

The nurse glanced at Rika who was still asleep. "Is it bad?"

"In a way." he nodded. "It's her memory. She still has parts of her memories, but at the same time, lost the other half. So she will remember a few things and some people, but someone still has to help her trigger the rest of her memory back."

The nurse didn't respond for a moment as she kept looking at the paper on her clipboard in confusion. "I still don't understand how she could've lost memory. It doesn't seem… I don't know, it's confusing."

"Think of it like when you're drowning, your oxygen is cut off."

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear." the pink haired girl announced acting "innocent" as she walked in the room. "But is Rika alright?"

"I'm guessing you are one of Rika's friends?" the nurse asked.

Mimi paused and then smiled. "Why yes, of course. I'm Rika's "best" friend."

………………………………...

"I take back about what I said the other day." Izumi announced as she and some of the others walked towards Takuya's house.

Kouichi grinned as he nudged her. "I bet that's what you're like now, but when you and Takuya get in the house you-" but was suddenly cut off by his twin who covered his mouth to stop him from continuing.

"Kouichi, shut up." Kouji muttered to him as he looked at Izumi. "You know, you really don't have to move in with him if you don't want to." looking over at Takuya who was busy talking with Takato with Juri by his side. "I know I wouldn't."

"I guess you're right…" she agreed as she looked at the sky and the clouds as if they could give her answers. They both were quiet until a muffling sound could be heard from Kouichi again.

"I can't understand what you're saying." his twin responded giving him weird looks as his brother still muttered something until he took Kouji's hand off his face and coughed slightly.

"I said I couldn't breathe! You were cutting off my air!" Kouichi exclaimed almost at the stage of passing out.

"Well if was the only way to keep you quiet."

"Oh yeah, by trying to kill your own brother?"

"Hm……maybe."

"Well, I guess they can't go through a day without arguing." Takuya laughed appearing out of nowhere beside Izumi.

"Ah, Takuya. How long until we finally get to your house?" as she noticed that it has been a while since they left school, and they seemed to be walking endlessly.

Pointing to the house right in front of them, he smiled. "We're right here."

It was all silent between them as they approached the house. "Do I really want to live here?" she noted to herself thinking if there was still time to regret this.

"Well, have a nice time at Takuya's house!" Kouichi grinned patting her head while everyone waved goodbye before running away down the street.

"Some friends." the blond wanted to exclaim but kept it in her mind as she forced herself to walk through the gates and into the house. "Alright, all I have to do is survive through dinner, survive having to sleep here, survive through the morning, and then….I have to think of Plan B." repeating the words with every step she took in his house.

"It's Izumi!" a woman's voice cried out as she walked out of the kitchen to see them walk in.

"Maybe there is still time to run out the door." she added glancing at the door, but Takuya shook his head knowing what she was thinking of and dragged her to follow him.

Later that Night

"Alright! I'm laying the boundaries around here. You stay on your side, and I'll stay on mine." the teen pointed as she pointed to the invisible line that separated them.

"Eh? What are you talking about? This is my room, why do I have to listen to you?" he answered playfully as he sat on his bed leaning against the wall.

"There's no way I'm going to have you sleep right next to me." she glared. "Unfortunately, your mom won't let me sleep anywhere else in the house because she's afraid I might get hurt or kidnapped."

"Well, that's my mother to you." he smiled. "But there's only one bed here, so you can have my bed for the night if you want."

She shook her head. "There's no way I'm going to sleep in "your" bed. I'm capable of sleeping on the floor you know."

He sighed as he sat down on the floor with her as she gave him a suspicious look, while he just had a calm expression. "There really is no way to change your mind, but you changed your personality."

"What are you talking about?"

He smiled at the fact that she was pretty dense. "You changed."

She looked at herself. "Well yes of course I changed into my pajamas."

He shook his head, knowing that she was just kidding, and laughed. "I meant that since the beginning of the school year, you've become more of a nicer person."

"Very funny." she laughed but was looking away from him. "Define nice for me and come back after a few years."

"I guess you haven't noticed."

Izumi still kept her gaze away from him as she observed his room. "Then…in what ways have I changed?"

"Well, first of all, you're starting to become friends with Kouichi again, and you're also starting to talk to Takato, Kouji, and Ryo. I mean, you'd never talk to them."

"So? It's not like I count them as my friends. Besides, I blame that group for making me like this." she argued back trying to prove that he had no evidence she changed.

"That's what you say, and another thing. You wouldn't have agreed to being here, especially at my house, talking "to me." emphasizing the part about him.

Now she had to admit, that the part about him is partly the reason she changed her personality. At first, she did find him annoying everyday she saw him, but since then, it seemed like he knew what she was feeling on the inside. "Fine, so you win." she admitted.

He smiled. "I knew you'd finally see it my way." as he stood up. "I'll be right back, I gotta make sure that Shinya is in bed and not staying up late playing video games." shutting the door behind him, leaving Izumi in the room.

Once he came back, he found a sleeping Izumi on the floor, leaving him to wonder what to do. "She's going to kill me if I do this." as he gently picked her up and laid her on his bed. He switched the lights off, and watched her sleeping face, until he fell asleep.

……….The Next Morning

"Good morning goggle head." a girl's voice announced as he walked into the kitchen to see her already dressed and breakfast was already set on the table. "You might as well eat." taking a seat across from her.

He stared at the food in front of him and gazed at her. "How do I know that this wasn't poisoned?"

"Fine, don't eat it." she muttered wondering why she even cared if he was hungry in the first place.

"I'm just kidding Z." he grinned taking a bite of the food.

"Don't call me that."

…………………………..

"Izumi, there's something weird going on." Juri announced running towards her blond friend. She a worried look, that was going to kill Izumi to death if she didn't find out what was wrong.

"Well? Spit it out! You can't expect me to guess." as she quickly threw her school shoes on and then walked towards her locker.

"Rika is here, but it's not the Rika we know."

"Ah…okay?" shutting her locker still clueless about the situation and followed after her. Just before Juri could explain any more, she noticed Rika with Mimi. Smiling. Laughing. "Mimi with Rika……that's not good." she thought worriedly.

Speak of the devil, the pink haired student glanced at her direction and smiled. "Well, this isn't how it was supposed to turn out, but since Rika has no memory of Izumi or any of her friends, she'd be the perfect puppet for my play."


	15. And What!

_**Hilarious guy. Not!**_

_**Immature**_

_**Really lame jokes**_

_**Open minded **_

_**Kenta's friend**_

_**And Takato's friend too**_

_**Zzzz….**_

_**Um……continuing on?**_

"Good morning Izumi." The usual look on that pink haired girl really annoyed her. Mimi did nothing but gave her a coy smile pretending she knew nothing.

As much as she wanted to say something back, she held back her words and kept a calm expression, silently walking past them. "I know you're up to something…" she muttered to her.

She glanced over at the group passing by her, and over at Rika and smiled. "We should probably get to class now Rika." ushering her to walk down the hallway with her.

Rika nodded but looked back at Izumi wondering what was that moment between the two of them about. "Mimi, who was that blond girl?"

"She is your rival." answering simply since this whole "set-up" was already planned ahead of time.

The brunette stopped which surprised her for a moment. "Why ……is she my rival?"

This was something to think about, since this was definitely not in Plan A. "Oh Rika!" the dramatic teen cried hugging her suddenly. "You still don't remember!"

"R-Remember what?"

Her sad expression turned to a slight smile while she was still hugging her. "She tried to kill you."

Suddenly, the worried look that was on Rika's face turned to confusion. "How do you know that she tried to kill me?" as she tried not to believe a word that this girl was saying.

"She used your fear. Water. She pushed you into a swimming pool and let you drown." her eyes went dark and gloomy explaining the whole story. "But luckily, Ryo saved you." pointing to the boy sitting with his friends from the other side of the room.

Well, it was partly true. Ryo "did" save Rika, but what made her wonder the most about was the drowning issue. "Just because we were rivals, doesn't mean she had to kill me…" she noted irritably. "I'll get back at Izumi…" and hearing a group walk in the classroom, she found her target, sitting down with her friends with a smile. "You'll see Izumi, I'll wipe that smile off your face for almost killing me."

"Hm, this is going to be a lot of fun." Mimi murmured to herself as she saw the dark expression on her friend's face glare at Izumi. "The characters are all in place, so it's time you guys give me one heck of a show."

Matt, who was watching Mimi the entire time, knew something was going to happen. Especially, about the fact that the two of them have been childhood friends, so it's easy to read her expression. Little did she know, that she also had a part in the play……

………………..

"Hey, are you okay?" Takato asked worriedly seeing Izumi with a frozen look as if she had been shocked by something.

"A-Ah…" loss for words, as she looked to the side of her. "I just got a chill from someone. Like they're mad at me or something…"

Juri poked the blond. "I think it's someone right behind you a couple of desks away. Rika doesn't look so happy."

"Eh?" as she looked behind her to face a death glare from her as she turned back to her friends. "What did I do now?!"

………………

"Cheer up." Takuya nudged Izumi giving her a sympathetic smile.

"Um…Takuya? This isn't exactly the right moment to say that line." Takato pointed out while walking with them, with Juri by his side.

Juri sighed knowing that she couldn't do much for the sake of their problems. "The only thing we know is that fact that Mimi is behind this."

"By the way." Takato announced throwing the soccer ball in the air and catching it. "How long has Mimi been your rivals?"

"I never thought about that…." Izumi finally spoke up since that was something that woke her mind. "Mimi "used" to be nice to me, but then she started hating me for some reason after Rika's situation facing death."

"Huh?"

"She means, the time after Rika's mother and grandmother got in an accident." Juri answered so that she could continue the story.

"Right." the blond nodded. "After that incident, not only did she start avoiding and hating me, I started to lose some of my friends. Now that you mention it, in the beginning of the school year, I lost Hikari, Junpei, and Tomoki. Kouichi I guess, but now he's back to talking to me again."

"Maybe…" the third goggle head muttered. "During that incident with Rika, you three had a problem?"

"Yes, but what "kind" of problem is the thing I'm wondering about." she glared and sighed. "We're just repeating facts, and we still don't get any helpful answers to help us."

……………..

At the Kanbara Residence

"This is going to be boring…" Izumi complained to no one as she dropped her school bag near the door, entering in Takuya's room. "Takuya's mom went to buy groceries for dinner, Takuya is at a soccer game, and Shinya I guess went to go follow him." sighing as she sat on the chair and gazed outside. "Maybe I should go watch the game…"

Just when she was going to get up from her seat, she tripped over something. "Oh yeah, as soon as Takuya finally decides to clean his room." she added sweat dropping that his whole room was like a storm blew right through it. Shrugging to herself, she simply went around to picking up his books, folding his clothes that were thrown on the floor, and came across a book that she tripped over earlier.

"Geez, how does he find his stuff around here?" she thought tiredly flipping through the pages of the book to reveal photos. She paused as a photo fell out of one of the pages and picked it up from the floor to examine it. "It's Takuya as a kid." she noted as a slight smile was shown on her face.

Putting it back on one of the pages where it fell out in the first place, she couldn't help but look at the other photos he kept. Turning each page, she kept smiling that, in fact, she didn't know why. One thing made her stop as she saw a picture hidden behind another photo. "What could he be hiding?"

Slowly taking the picture out, she had a look of confusion, as she examined this picture of Takuya in the middle, with a mother and father. "This isn't Takuya's parents…" she silently reminded herself, looking at the back to see writing on the picture. "Takuya and his Parents."

She took the other picture that had Takuya, Shinya, and their parents. Yep, they were different. "Takuya with his cousin Shinya and his aunt and uncle?" she read this time in surprise as she quickly checked the other pages to see if their were anymore hidden photos. Indeed, there was.

On the last page, was a picture of her and Takuya when they were kids.


	16. Release the Truth, Now!

_**The Orphan Flower**_

_**Daisuke!**_

_**Another character!**_

_**I love you!**_

_**Suki desu!**_

_**Um……**_

_**Keep the team strong**_

_**Eh?**_

Izumi sighed, trying hard to calm herself down, hoping all of this was an illusion. "I…don't believe this…" she kept thinking and blinked a couple times. Her head shook

again as the book fell out of her hands and ran out of the room.

------------

"Mimi, we need to talk." the familiar deep voice echoed in the classroom. She glanced up to see a certain blond leaning against the doorway. "A-Ah… Matt! W-what a surprise to s-see you here! How l-long have you been w-waiting for me?" and due to her nervousness, she couldn't help stuttering.

He silently walked towards her as she asked him questions and gently covered her mouth to stop her from continuing. Leaning close to her face, he muttered. "So how has your play been doing?"

"P-Play? What play?"

He settled his hand down. Well no surprise, it's not like she could admit it that easily. "Your plan with Rika and Izumi. Has it been fun so far? Messing Rika up with her memories, and leaving Izumi without the spotlight?"

Her face began to flush in embarrassment. "H-How do you know that?!"

"I can't really tell you anything more." he simply replied and unexpectedly, received a slap across the face. The reaction on his face was surprised, but his eyes softened as he stared down at the floor. "I'm sorry."

Mimi quickly retreated her hand as she tried to think what just happened. "D-Did I just hit him?" she asked herself and regretted it immediately. Looking at his face, his soft expression, reminded her of someone.

_Flashback_

_Years back, in elementary school. After the death of Rika's guardians…_

"_Rika! Izumi!" the younger Mimi grinned while running up to them. The two waved back in return as they waited for her to catch up. "I … heard about what happened, I'm sorry to hear that Rika."_

_Rika silently nodded, avoiding her gaze. "Thanks."_

"_Uh…so how are you feeling? Is the house all lonely? or-" the pink haired girl asked aloud, but was quickly cut off by Izumi._

"_Sorry, I don't think Rika really wants to talk about that right now." the blond quietly murmured looking at the brunette, and they walked ahead leaving her behind._

………

_The brunette girl sighed as she opened the classroom door to reveal one of her friends, waiting for her sitting at a nearby desk. "You wanted to talk to me?"_

_Mimi looked at Rika. "For a while actually. You never talk to me anymore, you're always hanging out with Izumi, and you never talk to me about anything."_

_She heard her friend shuffle towards her. She avoided her gaze. "I just don't feel like talking to you sometimes, that's all."_

_The perky girl suddenly stood up from her seat to argue. "Sometimes?! You haven't acknowledged my presence for almost half of the school year!"_

"_Maybe…" as the brunette paused, her voice seemed nervous to say this. "We should be friends anymore if we can't deal with each other's problems."_

"_W-What?" she asked, speechless for words. "I don't believe this. You were supposed to be my friend, what's wrong with you?!"_

"_**I can't really tell you anything more."**_

_All you could hear going on in the classroom was silence and a hard slap. A sorry was heard before someone left the room._

………………

_End of Flashback_

"Rika…" Matt heard her mumble out of nowhere, but didn't glance at her direction. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry Matt!" and before he could reply back, she hugged him hiding her face against his school shirt. "I'm sorry."

He brought his hand up to pat Mimi's head, slightly embracing her in return. "Your past about those two are painful, and I know it. Just promise me not to hurt my sister Izumi anymore."

She let go of him and gazed up at him. "W-What?! You have a sister?"

His vision averted to the window. "Yeah, but Izumi doesn't know that we're related."

"W-What about T.-"

A slight smile formed onto his face. "Don't worry, T.K. knows." and his eyes darkened, a blank yet serious look. "Unfortunately, she doesn't."

--------------------------

"Hey Izumi! Sorry I came so late! I'm home." Takuya announced aloud as he ran into the house hoping she wouldn't be mad at him. He nervously looked around while taking off his shoes. "Izumi?"

He checked the downstairs floor. No sign of her. Then upstairs. "Still no sign…" he muttered. "Maybe she went with mom or her friends while I was gone." but stopped when something on the floor was laying there. "That… shouldn't be there…"

Touching the photo album, he silently noticed the photo that fell out. "She didn't…" he muttered.

"Takuya, I'm -" the blond was about to announce before noticing Takuya with the album. She stared at him not knowing what to say.

He quickly closed the book, setting it aside. Walking towards her, he pulled her in his room and shut the door. With him leaning against the door, he didn't bother looking at her. "I know you saw the photos."

"I... I ... I'm sorry." that was the first time in years that Izumi bothered to say that line. "I" her knees began to give away as she collasped onto the floor, tears beginning to stream down her face. "Takuya! Why can't I remember you from the past? How did we know each other?!"

"Calm down Izumi, just breathe." Takuya reassured her, as he sat down beside her, taking her shaking hands into his warm ones. "I just never wanted to tell you the actual truth."

"W-What truth?"

He couldn't help but look away, this was something he couldn't get himself out of. "Your parents and my parents were close friends, and that was why we knew each other as kids." as he took the photo out showing the smiles on their faces from the past. "You used to be so happy. Since that day when my parents and your mom died on the plane accident to Italy, you wouldn't speak at all."

"Wait." Izumi interrupted his story as she held her hand up. "You said my mom. What happened to my dad?"

"Well... your dad is still alive today." the goggle head muttered out. "He just didn't know that he had a third child. Especially if it was a daughter."

Her eyes widened. "I have brothers?!"


	17. And the play will end for intermission

_**Orphan Flower**_

_**Yep, he has a fan club**_

_**And he's so anti social sometimes**_

_**Mimi could be the girl he likes**_

_**And he's mysterious**_

_**Terrific, he's an all perfect student**_

_**Oh well, let's begin again**_

"Tch. What sister?" Takeru glared at the blond girl before him. "Why are you suddenly asking me about my family? I only have a brother."

This situation and his attitude wasn't making Izumi's job very easy. "Takeru, I know the truth." she added.

He stood up from his seat to face her. With the two of them standing, he was only a few inches taller than her. He leaned towards her. "Maybe you do. I bet that you only know half of it though."

"Hey T.K. don't be so hard on our sister." interrupted another blond, as he walked in the room closing the door behind him. "It's not nice."

Izumi, for the first time becoming nervous and scared of what they were going to do for her, could only stay still and frozen on her spot.

Matt shook his head and sighed. "Sorry, T.K. is just pissed at the idea that you still don't know what's going on."

"W-Well how would I know if you guys didn't come looking for me?" she argued back thinking that if they all went to the same school since primary, they could've told her then and she wouldn't have to suffer through all this.

Takeru sat back down. "Even if we did tell you, we wouldn't be able to do anything. We were going to wait until Matt turned eighteen so that he could be the legal adult of our problems."

His brother turned to him. "So that's why you were so eager to this plan!"

"Eh, it took you a while didn't it?"

Izumi giggled at her brothers quarreling. Calling them brothers was a new term for her head to get used to. It was going to take her a while for that to happen. "What you said earlier." she announced looking straight at Takeru. "That I probably knew half of the truth…"

"Oh…that." they said in unison.

Moments later

"After mom left to Italy with Takuya's parents, we were all at home just expecting her to come back after the visit. Turns out that on that very same day, was the plane accident." Takeru explained to Izumi, and nodded for Matt to continue the rest.

"The weird thing was that she was pregnant when she left, and none of us seemed to have realized it. You happened to be born at Italy I guess. I heard that there was only one survivor and it turned out to be you." he added and paused to turn to the other blond. "T.K. and I were saying how you looked alike, and that you looked like mom. But we thought we were just seeing things."

"Wait." she began to point out. "How does this explain how I knew Takuya? How did he know about me already?"

The two looked at each other again. Then Matt spoke up again. "Takuya was probably brought to Italy by his aunt and uncle for the funeral. I heard that they weren't able to adopt him into the family at the time and had to leave him in an orphanage. They left a note saying that Takuya was friends with Izumi's family."

"How do you two know so much about this?"

"Diaries are pretty informative."

"That's how you guys found out?!" she asked in disbelief and smacked them across the face.

"Ow! What the heck!" Takeru glared but saw his sister's smiling face and sighed. "Girls." he muttered.

She grinned and sat back down. "So I'm guessing that Takuya and I were childhood friends ever since then."

"Yep, that's pretty much what happened." Takeru nodded. "But he left when he was around 5 or 6 to live with his aunt and uncle. And they asked the orphanage to bring you along."

"Huh?"

Matt could do nothing but chuckle. "Did you think that you were really going to pay for your own school tuition? Who do you think is paying for most of it?"

Izumi took some thought about it and gasped. "Oh my gosh! and I had no idea!"

"Ah, the blond finally gets her memory back."

Smack! Crash! Thud!

----------------

On the Way Home

"Ow… why did we have to get a sister again?" Takeru asked aloud rubbing his red cheeks that Izumi did to him. "Man, if I had known she was this tough I wouldn't have bothered to tell her the whole story in the first place."

-------------

Izumi who was calmly walking home, deep in thought about the new info she just learned didn't realize what death had planned on her. Hearing footsteps follow her, she stopped and looked around. Shrugging that it was her imagination, she turned forwards to face Rika with a knife against her throat. "R-Rika? What are you…doing?!"

"Only my friends call me Rika, but to you, I prefer you call me Nonaka!" the brunette replied leading her into an alleyway and a dead end.

"What do you want?!" the blond teen asked as she was all tied up and thrown against the side of the wall.

"You were the reason that I almost died. I thought that maybe it could be payback, I would like to take a "stab" at revenge." she explained with a smirk.

She gasped in horror and closed her eyes as she saw the knife coming down at her, but peeked open to see that someone stopped her.

"What do you think you're doing Rika?" Matt asked sternly with a firm grip on Rika's wrist with the knife.

"Trying to do what I should've done before!"

"Killing your best friend?" Takeru joked, and saw that Rika's expression went blank hearing the words "best friend".

"What are you talking about?! She's no friend of mine!" she protested back but paused to see photos fluttering down on her. "What is all this?!" she glared grabbing at a random photo.

"Take a look at it and see."

She glared at the boys and looked at it. A small gasp was heard from her as she suddenly dropped the photo. "This isn't true. Izumi and I being in the same picture and smiling, you guys just used tools to photoshop this picture."

"Think harder." Matt pressed on hoping his plan would work.

Rika closed her eyes and tried to calm down. "Mimi and I were friends. Izumi and I were friends. This is all too much. Only my memories are true!"

Takeru appeared beside her. "But which ones are the real ones?"

"Ugh….you guys are-" but she couldn't finish her sentence as she suddenly collapsed, luckily being caught by Matt.

"It's amazing how much of an impact a photo can do to a person."

Crash! Punch! Thud!

"How'd you get untied?!"

"Haha, wouldn't you like to know T.K." Izumi grinned mischievously, but looked at Matt. "Will Rika be alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she just passed out because she was putting too much stress on herself."


	18. Christmas!

_**The Orphan Flower**_

_**Kid genius looking**_

_**Educated guy**_

_**Not very outgoing**_

_**Takato's friend**_

_**And loyal to everyone**_

"Well this is something new." the blond commented seeing the two boys before her. "I didn't expect you guys to be here."

"Of course, we have to pay our respects." Takeru smiled. The trio were now standing in front of the grave together. All visiting their mother's grave.

Izumi had to admit, visiting the grave with them felt a little awkward. She was so used to being in her own world and when it came to her mother, that was a different story. Gazing at the new bouquet of flowers on the cemented grave, she focused on the flowers. There was something familiar about it. "Were you guys…the ones that delivered this bouquet of cosmos every year to her?"

Matt gave her a small smile. "So you noticed?" He turned to face the grave. "Of course, it's hard since mother always wanted a different bouquet of cosmos each year."

A scoff escaped from Takeru. "Yeah, that was the troublesome part. We had to go out to the countryside all for a bouquet of cosmos."

"But was it worth it?" she questioned.

They both stared at her and laughed. "Yeah, it was."

She looked at the flowers again. "I thought it was a little weird since I had no idea who else could've done this."

"Izumi." Takeru spoke, but paused unsure of how to say it. "You had no idea about your family and what happened, but how did you know where she was buried? And the fact that she was your mother?"

A laugh was heard from her. "That's the thing, I really did have no idea who she was and all, but since that day…"

"That day?"

"When I was kid and I lived alone, I was walking home from school when I happened to pass by this cemetery. I…don't know why I was crying at the time, but I felt alone, until I saw a woman here. She was waving over to me as to motion me to come over to her." the blond began to explain to the two.

"Idiot, what if it was a poltergeist or something?" Matt interrupted since cemeteries are quite the place for suspicious happenings.

Izumi kneeled down to touch the petals of the flowers. "Somehow, I just knew she was a good person. So I walked up to her, and the way she hugged me was like a motherly hug I used to see other girls get from their mothers. She kept telling me everything will be alright, and since then, I believed that she was someone who knew me before her death."

"So…" Takeru added. "Since then, you've been visiting her."

"Plus…" she smiled, pushing the bouquet away from the words on the cement. "I didn't know how to read at the time, but I saw the name. "Orimoto." on her grave. So I believed that she was blood related to me."

"This is starting to sound like a Fate or Destiny situation."

Glancing at the clouds, she softly responded. "I think it's a bit of both."

And at that very moment, snow began to fall softly on the trio. It almost looked like flower petals falling down on them, except it was the cold snowflakes that replaced them. They were all quiet, observing the moment before they decided to leave.

And little did they know, that behind their backs, their mother appeared on the grave with a smile, watching them from afar.

…………………..

"You want me to come to a Christmas party?" Izumi repeated.

"You know very well I'm not going to repeat that again." the pink haired female muttered, trying to avoid her gaze.

She glanced at the invite she received and looked up at Mimi again. "But why?"

"Nothing, I just thought we should let the past behind us since a new year is coming up." she waved and walked away.

…

"So?" the brunette girl spoke up after school.

Now it was Juri's turn to receive the confused expression from Izumi. "So.. what?" They were let out of school for Christmas break, and she was obviously not in the thinking mood.

"Are you going to go to Mimi's party?" Juri grinned, holding the invitation in front of her.

She stared at it. "I didn't get one."

"Stop lying, I saw you two talking to each other and she handed you one!" she pointed to the red paper that was sticking out of her friend's bag.

Izumi took the red paper and let the wind blow it away from her hands. "Um…I lost it?"

"I have an extra copy." the brunette grinned again taking a second copy of the invite. Sometimes, you'd like to wonder what goes on in her mind these days.

A sigh escaped from her lips, as she turned her heel to the school gates to leave. "Forget it I'm not going."

Juri followed after her. "Izumi please come!"

"No."

Juri pouted, still following her friend to the school gates. "You need to set your differences aside with Mimi, the new year is coming and you don't want to-"

"That's not the reason why I'm not going." she interrupted.

"Eh?" she stopped. "It's not?"

"No."

"Then…why?"

"It's kinda complicated to me…" Izumi muttered, as they walked into the park. She pushed aside the snow on the swing and sat on it, swinging softly back and forth.

Juri who followed the same, sat on the swing next to hers. "What's wrong?"

Izumi gazed at the sand, her shoes leaving line marks on the sand as she kept swinging back and forth slowly. "Usually at Christmas parties, there are friends, and the people you like. It's one of those happy days that you don't want to miss." she paused. "And for some people, ….there's mistletoe."

Her friend stopped swinging. "Are you saying that you're falling in love?"

She received a no as a response. "Actually I already have…"

Juri was surprised again at first, but smiled and continued swinging. "You're in love with Takuya."

It wasn't a question she was saying. She was stating the fact. "Um… that line is still a little foreign to me. I don't usually like to use the word "love" it's not in my vocabulary."

She got a laugh for that. "Nice one Izumi. But what's the problem about it? Don't we all have a right to fall in love?"

"Haven't you ever heard the quote, "the more you love the more pain it brings?" Now it was her turn to stop swinging and leave Juri to answer her question.

"Nope!"

She stared at her friend in disbelief, unsure of whether she was joking around or whether she was just really meaning it.

Juri smiled at her. "Because it's not true. I mean, yes we get hurt along the way, but love has never left us entirely."

"Deep and well thought out, did Takato help you out with that one?"

She blushed as the name "Takato" came to mind. "N-No… stop trying to change the subject!"

"Actually I believe we're still talking about love, we just happen to talk about different people." Izumi explained with a mischievous look. "I'm sure you have no problem talking about it."

Juri kept silent. Now she was starting to figure out Izumi's problem, just one thing reminded her of something that was mentioned in their conversation. The mistletoe. Takato and her…..now her face was turning pink. "Izumi! I want to skip out of the party with you!"

………………..

"Do you think we could've phoned Mimi that we couldn't come?" Juri questioned repeatedly. "I'm worried she'll get mad at us."

Izumi was casually sitting in Juri's house sipping tea. "What ever happened to letting the past behind us let's not start grudges kind of thing?"

"Maybe I was overreacting?" Juri joked, but knew it didn't work. "Not to mention, that I told Takato that I was coming."

"I told Takuya that too. He's such an airhead he'll believe anything." Setting the cup down on the plate, a small insecure feeling of doubt was growing inside her. Sure Takuya was an airhead to believe anything, but there were some things you couldn't fool him with. "Tak…" she almost said aloud, but since Juri was there and heard what she was saying, she changed it to. "Tak..ato, did you tell him that you weren't going?"

"I wanted to, but then… I don't know. I was thinking that I might come visit for a little bit." She replied quietly.

Silence now replaced their words. Izumi couldn't help it when a friend was like this. "I'll go with you, but only… for a limited amount of time."

She looked at the blond and giggled. "Alright "Cindy-zumi"

"Cindy-zumi?"

"Another name for Cinderella." as she took her friend's hand. "Well, if you want to leave faster, then we might as well get there now."

…………………..

"I bet 5 yen that Izumi will kiss Takuya!"

"Oh yeah? I bet 10 yen they won't!"

Mimi couldn't help but cough to avoid hearing their conversation between two blond brothers. "Boys…" Luckily, she wasn't the only girl around in the party. If she was, she would've skipped out, even though she was the one hosting it. Sora was busy with Tai playing air hockey, Hikari was now talking to T.K…. so where are the other two?

Hearing the doorbell ring, she glanced over to see Takuya answer the door. Suddenly, she had an idea, and walked away to go outside.

"Hey Izumi! We were wondering where you were." Takuya greeted, and noticed Juri didn't appear.

"If you're wondering about Juri, she'll be here soon, she just had something to do really quick." she answered as if she could read his mind. Actually the expression on his face pretty much said it all.

"Oh, really?" he nodded, and they both stopped to look at something above them. THE MISTLETOE.

"Hey look mistletoe!" Takeru pointed to the two and the green plant above them. "You can't break the rule when you see one." He turned to Matt who was glaring at him.

"Ah, sorry T.K. but I think I'll pass on this one." Takuya muttered, letting Izumi inside the house.

Matt turned to his brother with a hand. "Alright, pay up that 10 yen, I told you." as Takeru pouted and gave the money to him. "Geez.."

Izumi sighed and glanced at Takuya. "Thanks." and quickly left to find Mimi. Usually, if she wasn't acting her usual self, she would've ignored all this, beat up T.K., rip the mistletoe apart, and … in fact, she would've stayed home! But…she knew she changed in a different way that…

"Izumi! Come here!" Mimi called out to her as she noticed that she walked in the garden. Quickly sticking a green plant she had pulled off from one of her plants, she stuck it in her hair. "Wear this!"

The blond stood there frozen, and noticed Mimi had a plant stuck on her hair too. "What's this for?"

"Since I forgot to get you guys gifts, I'm going to give this to you, Juri, Hikari, Sora, and Rika." she explained.

"You didn't have to do that." Izumi tried to oppose but Mimi kept insisting. "And Rika…she isn't here…"

Mimi paused from putting the plant on the blond. "I know… but it doesn't mean we should forget her…"

They were both silent, while she tried to fix Izumi's hair and stuck the plant on the side as decoration similar to hers. "I missed you guys."

"What are you talking about? You've seen us at school practically everyday." but she knew that Mimi was talking about something else. She was talking about the days when the three of them used to hang out.

The sakura haired girl shook her head no. "I meant…I just…I just want to say sorry. Holding grudges against you guys wouldn't solve anything."

"As much as I hate to say it, I…I'm sorry too. I didn't hate you entirely." Izumi admitted, and suddenly felt weight lifting off her shoulders. Somehow, she felt better saying it and was glad she did.

"Yeah…" she agreed. "I never understood you guys when it came to death. I was jealous in elementary that you had something in common and that your friendship was pretty deep because of that. Death isn't something… you should face through alone. I was starting to understand that Rika needed someone who understood her."

"Even though we haven't spoken about it in a while, it's obvious Rika misses hanging out with you too. It's just…"

"Complicated." they said in unison, and grinned. "Let's head inside, I'm freezing out here!" Mimi laughed.

……………

"Hey Takuya, what happened to you back there? T.K. was trying to give you an opportunity earlier." Takato asked, but at the same time was concerned since Takuya wasn't usually that type to act like that.

He looked away from Takato to where Izumi was talking to the other girls. "I didn't want to make the situation awkward between us."

His friend gave him an amazed look. "Takuya, you seemed to have matured a little bit."

"Was that sarcasm you added there?"

"No, not really." he shrugged.

Takuya rolled his eyes, Takato was usually the one that had to lecture him about things like this. Must've rubbed off from Juri. "Speaking of Juri, she's over there, go talk to her." he said pushing him towards her, and laughed as Takato glared at him.

"Hi Takato, um… how are you?" she was feeling nervous since she didn't expect Takato to be the first person to meet at the party. Or either she just wasn't prepared.

"Pretty good, a-"

"Juri! Come here really quick!" Mimi interrupted grabbing Juri by the arm and into a different room where the other girls were at. "Here, wear this!" as she stuck a plant that was the same as the rest of them. "Okay, you're good to go."

"Eh?"

"Don't worry, she did it to us too." Sora sighed, and resumed back to the air hockey game in the other room.

"Good luck Juri." Izumi added before pushing Juri out of the room and shutting the door behind her. She chuckled and leaned against the door. "She's so lucky."

"About what? That she has someone?" Mimi asked since she heard what she was saying. "Don't you have someone you like? For instance…that Takuya guy?"

A pang hit her heart as she mentioned the name again. "Yeah, about that. That's true… but…"

Mimi clapped her hands together. "Great! That's awesome! Are you going to tell him your feelings soon?"

Izumi didn't say anything, but shook her head no. "I won't say anything."

"Wha?" the shocked expression was on her face. "And you're happy with it?! He might have feelings for you too!"

"Umm… there's… something that's going to be in the way. So before anything happens, I want to end that feeling." she answered quietly, staring at the ground. "I…wouldn't be happy if he wasn't happy."

"And…what's that obstacle that's keeping you from telling him?"

"If I told you now, then that would ruin the whole party and then it would be something no one wanted to remember." she explained but gave Mimi a reassuring smile. "But I promise I will tell you, just not right now."

Mimi nodded. "Alright."

They both walked out of the room as T.K. ran over to Izumi. "Guess what Takato kissed Juri."

"What?" they both asked in unison.

"Well, on the cheek, but hey at least he kissed her under the mistletoe." he shrugged and ran off to find Hikari to tell her the news.

"Haha, how typical." Mimi giggled and ran off also to find Matt, leaving Izumi by herself to talk to the others who were guys. She couldn't help but notice that Takuya was acting…different.

"Hey Takuya." she greeted, getting his attention.

He smiled back towards her. "Izumi."

For some odd reason, it hurt to see that he wasn't his usual self. He was just acting like that so that no one would notice that anything was wrong. Before they both knew it, they were outside on the back porch of the mansion. Yes, the mansion. "So…any resolutions for the coming year?"

"Huh? As she gazed at him, but he was looking away. "Ah…not really. You?"

"Guess I'm the same. I haven't thought about any goals I wanted to make." He added a small laugh. "Besides, if I do have resolutions, I never do it anyways."

Izumi just smiled. "Sounds like you."

They were both quiet again. "Now, what am I going to say?" she thought. "I know that if I ask him what's wrong, he might either say nothing or talk about it. Either one, I'll end up feeling sad." she kept note again.

_Mimi clapped her hands together. "Great! That's awesome! Are you going to tell him your feelings soon?"_

_Izumi didn't say anything, but shook her head no. "I won't say anything."_

"_Wha?" the shocked expression was on her face. "And you're happy with it?! He might have feelings for you too!"_

"Am I truly happy?" she whispered softly, which surprised Takuya at first because she suddenly spoke out of nowhere. She closed her eyes. "No… I wouldn't be happy…but it's for the best.." she kept reminding herself. But no matter how times her mind told her, her heart was saying the opposite. Out of nowhere, a tear slipped out. Then afterwards, more tears were starting to fall down.

"I-Izumi? Are you alright?" he asked but he regretted asking that because one, it was obvious she wasn't alright, and two, it just caused her to cry even more. He reached out to her and held her in a warm embrace.

She sighed and hugged back, she just needed someone… even for a moment. "Thank you…" she managed to word out, enough for Takuya to hear.

He patted her head and smiled softly. He didn't bother saying anything. Some things are better off without saying the words.

Sadly, a certain cell phone that was ringing was coming from the purple dressed girl, as she let go and reached into her pocket.

"I guess you have to leave now" he said and gave her a reassuring look before walking off.

She checked the caller on her cell phone before closing it and took his hand to stop him from walking away. "Takuya…"

This time, he didn't avoid looking at her.

From behind Takuya, she could see Juri having a fun time talking with Takato, along with everyone else. It would be a shame to leave and ruin the moment. "I think…I'll…stay a little longer." as a genuine smile appeared on her lips.

_**A/N: I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Have a Happy New Year. Thanks for reviewing or for those who enjoy the story very much. XD**_


	19. The offer

_**The Orphan Flower**_

_**Miyako**_

_**Intelligent **_

_**Yolei**_

_**And why don't I have a big character role?**_

_**Kid like the others**_

_**Open-minded most of the times**_

"So…" Juri began to grin as she nudged Izumi on the arm. "What was this about "let's skip out and not go to the party thing?" Apparently, it was the next day, and since school was off, they decided to hang out at Juri's place.

She shrugged. "I said we should stay for a little bit so we wouldn't get Mimi mad at us for not coming."

Her friend still kept on a happy expression. "Well, staying for the whole party was pretty long, what changed your mind?"

"You know very well. And don't think you can just start bugging me about it or else I'll start annoying you about yesterday with the mistl-"

"Ok! Fine, I'll stop!" she panicked and covered Izumi's mouth to stop her from continuing the sentence. She definitely didn't want anyone else to hear them.

"Thank you." she sighed in relief now that they could stop talking about this.

"I still think you should tell him how you feel." the brunette continued, this time with a sincere smile. "I'm not going to force you, but-"

"Wait wait, what's with the rushing to confess thing? Who says that I have to hurry up and tell him?"

"Well, if you two have the same feelings and you don't tell each other how you feel, then your heart will start to bother you, and you can't let that feeling go. You know what I mean?" as she pretended to be in a dreamy daze, but laughed at her poor imitation.

Sometimes, it's hard to figure out what goes through Juri's mind each day. You never know what topic she might bring up. Weird girl.

…………

"I hate having to do this." Hikari muttered as she filed papers into their folders. Unlike with her situation, she couldn't relax for the holidays mainly to take care of the family business.

"What? filing papers? C'mon it's not that bad." her brother assured her, who was also helping out as well. "It's not like we're doing this forever."

"It's not that." Shaking her head no in response. "It's well…when we were little I used to love hearing things about arranged marriages until I realized that not everyone ends up marrying someone they like."

He stared at a couple of papers before asking anything. "You're right… but why should you worry? It's not like mom and dad are thinking of having you marry to someone you don't like. They wouldn't force you."

"Tai…look at this." as she handed him a sheet of paper about an arranged marriage. He took it out of her hands and read through it before looking surprised. "I don't believe it…"

"See, this is why I don't like to be friends with anyone I know that has to go through this." she sighed. "Plus, if they find out that we're the next to inherit this stupid program, they'll hate us for sure."

"How long have you known that these two were…"

"Since I moved into the family, and at that same time, when he first arrived at our school. I had a bad feeling that something in the future will hurt Izumi by the way they acted together so I stayed away from her afterwards." remembering in the very beginning how she started to act coldly to her. "I did this…for a good reason."

…………….

"Hello? Oh is this Hikari? Hello Hikari, may I please speak to your mother? Yes, thank you." Takuya's mother spoke as she dialed the number on the phone.

"I'm home." Izumi announced as she walked into the house, but stopped to hear the conversation that was echoing into the kitchen.

"When is the appointment?" his mother continued, writing down the time schedule on a small notepad. "Yes, it's for the arranged marriage of Takuya and Mimi. February 14th? Alright, sounds reasonable. Thank you. Good-bye." as she returned the phone into it's place with a click. "Welcome Izu-" she was about to respond but was surprised to see that the blond had already hurried up the stairs.

"It's…a no wonder why…Mimi was only being nice to me…just to get closer to Takuya…" she thought repeating the words Mrs. Kanbara had said on the phone. Staring at her bag and her other belongings, she thought of one thing. Leave out of the house.

Moments later, Mrs. Kanbara could already hear footsteps coming down the stairs to see the blond standing at the kitchen doorway. "Izumi, dinner will be-"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Kanbara, but I won't be staying here for dinner. In fact, I won't be coming back here again. Thank you for your hospitality, and for everything you've done for me. I'll find a way to repay you back somehow."

His mother could hear her hesitating as she tried to explain it to her. Walking up to her, she patted her head and smiled. "As long as you know what you're doing, go ahead. Feel free to come back anytime."

"T-Thank you." she whispered before walking out the door, almost bumping into Shinya. "Sorry Shinya."

"It's fine." he smiled to show he wasn't hurt. "Hey, where are you going?" As he was referring to her bag.

That was the question she didn't want to hear, but luckily it was someone else asking her this and not Takuya. "I…I'm leaving for a trip, so I won't be back for a while." she lied hoping not to bring any worry in him. "S-So, see ya!" she waved with a fake smile and disappeared as she stepped out of their property.

He was almost sure that he had seen hurt in her eyes.

……………….

Matt who was sitting on the couch reading a book while his brother was playing video games, was enjoying the free time until an annoying ringtone came on. "This had better not be a fan girl." he grumbled checking the caller id and picked up tiredly. "What do you want goggle head?"

"Hey Matt, I was just wondering, is Izumi at your place? I tried to call Juri's area but when she picked up she said she wasn't there." Takuya explained on the other line.

"Wow, desperate I see." he added dully.

"I'm serious."

He sighed. "Sorry, but she's not here, I'll let you know if we do see her."

"Okay, thanks."

And with that, he pressed end on his cell phone and once again heard another annoying sound. The doorbell. Which happened to be on the first floor of course. They were both on the fourth floor. He started walking downstairs as he didn't hear any of the housekeepers answer it. "I-Izumi?"

The blond girl was already drenched with water thanks to the rain that still continued on, and she was starting to get a cold. "H-Hey Matt.. I k-know this is k-kinda sudden b-but could I s-stay ov-" and was shoved into the house as he lead her towards the bathroom. "Here's the bathroom, go wash up, there's a cabinet of towels on your right, and there should be some spare clothes in the closet on your left." he pointed and glanced at her. "I'll be waiting right here when you're done."

…………….

About a half hour later, she walked out of the bathroom with dry clothes to see that indeed, he was waiting. "Thanks."

"No problem. Your our sister, of course we'd help you." and paused. "What was your problem again?"

"Uh… it's kinda a long story." she muttered.

"We've got time, and if you're worried about who's in the house, dad is on a business trip, our step mom went with him, and Willis is staying at a friend's house in the countryside." he quickly said to her, as he glanced around for others he had forgotten. "Oh, and our housekeepers are the only others who will be here besides us."

She nodded but didn't recognize someone he had mentioned. "Willis? Who's that?"

"Stepbrother, he's T.K.'s age. Don't worry about him. He's a nice guy" as they walked over to the kitchen. She sat down on one of the chairs while he was getting food. "So…" he began. "How's Mimi?"

Glancing up in his direction, she gave him a look. "She's fine I guess." and looked down. "What does she have to do with what's going on now?" she wondered.

"I thought so." he muttered, closing the refrigerator and set the ingredients on the table. He looked at her. "I'm sure you already heard about that marriage she's assigned to. Tell her congrats when you see her."

"I can't tell if you're being supportive or against this marriage." Izumi said and coughing slightly to not show that she was a little upset about the issue. "Besides, why can't you tell her yourself?"

"He wouldn't have the heart to." T.K. added, appearing next to Izumi. She gave him a confused look, as he continued. "He doesn't want to interfere with them. That would bring even more problems." as he took a sip of his soda. "Isn't that what you were here about?"

She went silent and mumbled something about how they knew her pretty well. "Did she really want to interfere?" she kept asking herself, and looked over at Matt who was busy talking to T.K. about something, "Or, am I the type of person who is like Matt. The type to keep quiet?" No she didn't think she was quiet enough to do that.

"Hey Z." T.K. announced interrupting her thoughts. He seemed to have a habit of doing that to people. "So have you thought about our offer to you that time?"

"That offer?" she thought again, and remembered the day when the three of them were visiting the grave. Before the Christmas party. "Well, the new year is going to come up…" she started. "I'm up to it." she smiled. She wouldn't mind starting a new beginning.

The two boys looked at each other. "Well, you better get ready."

…………….

After a month of January off for vacation and a week off the first week of February, it was the second week which meant school was back in session. It was a new year for everyone, but it didn't mean that everything was the same.

Now, whenever Izumi would see Takuya, she would try to avoid him. Everything she saw about him, heard, even the mention of his name was painful enough to hear. She even decided to avoid Mimi for her own sake, not knowing the real truth behind it.

"Izumi." The pink haired girl called out after class had ended. The blond turned to her, with no look, just an expressionless face. "Can…we talk?" And sighed with relief as she saw her nod.

……. moments later

It was silent between the two girls as they were standing in front of the school together while students were walking past them since they were excited for the weekend. The situation became worse for Izumi as she noticed Takuya waiting for them. "Probably waiting for Mimi I bet…" she noted.

"Hey." the brown haired boy greeted, as Mimi smiled and waved in return. They both turned to look at Izumi with a bit of a sad look on their faces. "We need to talk to you about something." Mimi began.

"You see, on February 14th, we" Takuya began but was cut off by the blond.

She smiled weakly. "It's your wedding isn't it?" as she saw the two with surprised glances.

"Izumi, we wanted to say that-" the pink haired girl tried to explain.

The blond shook her head no. "I'm sorry, if you're going to invite me to the wedding I can't come."

The two weren't surprised, until she continued…

She pulled up another fake smile. "I'm leaving Japan, to Italy. So, I'll give you an early congrats for you two. You deserve it." as she saw her savior (T.K.) waving towards her to run to the car. "Well, so long." she muttered and ran towards her brother with tears starting to form from her eyes.

Mimi stood there shocked. She knew how much Izumi loved, no still loves Takuya. Even a girl like her couldn't force herself to like a guy like him, especially if she was also in love with someone else. "Takuya…"

"She's leaving." he repeated remembering the exact words the blond had said before them moments ago.

………..

"February fourteenth is only a couple of days away." T.K. said aloud in the car.

Matt couldn't help but add a sarcastic comment. "Yes T.K. I'm sure we haven't noticed that something was going to happen that day."

He shrugged. "I didn't mean it that way, I just thought that it could've been better if we left early, you know?"

It was only the eleventh, so it wasn't a bad idea. "He's got a point…Who said that we had to wait on that day?" he told himself. "Alright, we'll leave the day before the fourteenth, but we'll just tell everyone we're leaving on the fourteenth."

"That's something I'll agree on." his brother nodded, and noticed Izumi agreeing to the plan as well. "That's good because…"

Izumi and Matt looked at him to finish his sentence. "Because?…."

He grinned and waved his arms in the air. "That means we don't have to go to school!"

"Idiot…."


	20. Here Going Gone

_The Orphan Flower_

_**Renamon**_

_**United through teamwork**_

_**Killer glares**_

_**Ignorant often**_

_**The younger brother of Yamato**_

_**And an older brother of Izumi**_

_**Kid-like personality**_

_**Educated**_

_**Really seems to be the younger one of the three**_

_**Um……likes Hikari! **_

_**Kid genius**_

_**Elegant like**_

_**Nothing typical**_

The brunette sighed nervously taking the phone into her hand and carefully dialed the number, waiting for someone to pick up as it was ringing. "Please answer please answer." she kept praying hearing a soft click on the other end.

"Hello?"

"A-Ah…U-Um I-Is…" she stammered getting interrupted by a laugh on the other end.

"I'll go get Izumi." the voice answered again and left the phone for a few moments until the blond came to the device and picked up. "Hello?"

"Izumi?" she meekly said.

Another laugh came from the other side of the line. "Yes, the one and only. What did you need Juri?" Izumi replied with an amused expression realizing who the person she was speaking to was of course her.

The voice on Juri's side was quiet. "Um… you weren't at school for a while, so the teacher was wondering if something was wrong." she closed her eyes to think of what else to add. "I know that something is up, but, I don't know the exact plan."

"Yes, and I don't plan on telling you." the blond explained calmly breathing slowly from her nervousness. "Yet."

"Everyone is worried about you."

She paused trying to think of the kind of people that would worry about a person like her. "Mind naming them for me?" she questioned at the same time testing her.

Juri fingered the cord connecting to the telephone. "There's me, Rika, Takato, Ryo, Jenrya, Kouichi, Kouji, Hikari-"

"Now you're starting to name off people that are "your" friends." the blond corrected her while slinging her bag onto her shoulder. Glancing at the clock, she sighed. She needed more time to kill.

"They really do care." she shot back. "What about Shinya? Mimi? and the one that you love Tak-"

"Don't you dare try finishing that name." Izumi cut in hearing a gasp from her. "I don't want to talk about it. If this is what you called me for then…" and paused to think. "then I'm going to hang up."

"I'm going to keep calling you and I'll try going to your house." Juri began hoping this would cause her to give in to her idea.

"Yeah? Well too bad because I won't be there." as the tone of her voice was starting to sound cold. "And I won't answer the phone either because one, I'm just going to ignore it, and two, I have to keep my phone off when I'm boarding the plane."

Juri almost dropped the phone hearing those words. She inhaled slowly trying to contain herself. "I thought you were leaving tomorrow." she said quietly, her heart beating faster with the reply she would get.

"I was." Izumi agreed noticing the gates open and gathered her belongings. "But we had a flight change." as she stood in line with her brothers and glanced at the window seeing the planes in the sky. "I'll still keep in contact with you, don't worry."

The brunette's hands were clenched in a fist in anger and at the same time upset and hurt. "You're leaving right now without telling any of us beforehand?!" she practically exclaimed inside the telephone booth surprising the people around her.

While Juri was furious, a calm Izumi continued to listen on the line. "You know Juri, someone once told me a quote, "You never know what's missing until it's gone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked nervously.

The blond didn't answer as she gave her passport to the woman to look over. Before taking a step into the path to the airplane, she whispered. "Goodbye." and hung up with a simple click.

"Izumi!" Juri kept repeating into the phone as tears were starting to form and fall down her cheeks. Slamming the phone into the receiver, she opened the door to leave only to open it too quickly that it hit someone and fell down. She gasped and helped the person up. "I-I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "I I didn't mean…"

"Hey, it's alright." the boy chuckled taking her hand to stand up. He glanced at her face to notice who she was. "Hey, Juri? What's wrong?" seeing her tear stained face.

"Eh?" she asked blankly realizing that the boy she had ran into was Takato. Her face was turning pale as she tried to process through her mind what to do. "Ah uh…" she stood there speechless and glanced down. "Don't worry, I just thought you got hurt…" she mumbled.

"Not that, I meant… you're crying, what's wrong?" as his hand softly touched her shoulder, surprising her.

Looking away, she said. "Don't worry about me." the way that Izumi had always said it whenever someone asked her what was wrong. She couldn't help but wonder how she could be that strong to not show any emotion, unlike her, she was easy to make fun of and of course end up crying.

"Could you try repeating that line and saying it straight to my face?" he asked gently, his hand touched her cheek, having her face him.

Instead of being her usual self where at this point she would end up blushing and running away type, she smiled. "Don't worry about me."

Noticing his uncertain face, she smiled again. "Crying won't help anything." she added and waved goodbye. "Thanks, but I have to get going." as she ran to find the one boy who could bring her friend back.

…………………..

"She what?!" he almost exclaimed, but kept it in. All this information within seconds was too much for a dense boy to contain.

Juri covered her ears from his loud voice. She took it that he heard it correctly, and just didn't believe it. "Can't you bring her back?"

He stood there thinking. Yes, it was a possibility that he could convince her to come back, but this time… it wasn't going to be as easy. This was a matter of how they both felt and if she just didn't feel the same way, then…"I don't know if I can…" he admitted.

She stared at him in disbelief. Him of all people was giving up hope.

"I don't know if she'll feel the same way. Besides, Mimi and I can't do anything so far with the marriage unless if we both admit that we like someone else. I don't know if Mimi likes anyone, and she can't fake it to help our situation." he explained and sighed. "Tomorrow is the fourteenth, how am I going to get a plane ticket that easily? On the day I might get married too?"

This made her smile as she held a couple of tickets in front of him. "I have them."

He took them out of her grasp and scanned over at the times. "Who is the fourth ticket for? Takato?"

"I-I just t-thought it would be a w-way to apologize for r-running into him." she stuttered trying to cover the story up.

He went silent but nodded. "We'll leave then."

_Here. Going. Gone…_

_**Chapter 20 is dedicated to my Chapter 19 reviewers!:**_

_**Yuki's Little Girl, Pandapple, Kazumi Kairi or Kairi-chan, Anime-Queen-2011, ATOMIC ORANGE, Automatic Code Red 123, Pokkin Choco, First Day High, Gogglelicious, and Ramen and Chopsticks.**_


	21. Even I want to tell you that I

_The Orphan Flower_

_**Just… do something**_

_**Open minded sigh**_

_**Ever so quiet**_

_**Intelligent!**_

_**Zomg! The new laptop 3000 with megabytes and-**_

_**Zzz…**_

_**Yes, let's all leave and continue on…**_

"Hm…" the girl sighed softly trying to relax on the plane. Sure she managed to get airline tickets for Italy thanks to her mother who worked at the airport, it was just the thought of what they were going to do there that she was worried about.

"Hey…it's gonna be ok Juri." Takato assured her with a small smile, squeezing her hand for support. He didn't exactly know the whole problem, but knew that the only thing he could do was be there for his friends.

Her head began to rest on his shoulder as she said nothing but fall asleep within moments sleeping soundly. She couldn't help it feeling this way, she couldn't stop thinking about what Izumi had told her. It had been on her mind that she literally couldn't fall asleep at all!

He didn't seem to mind and continued to watch her sleeping face. She looked better when she wasn't conscious since she always seemed to have the look of worry or nervousness around him. This time, she was just… well, the kind of Juri he hasn't seen. Someone who could relax around him. He sighed and glanced over at the aisle across from them where Takuya and Mimi were sitting. Mimi was asleep, but Takuya… looked different. "What are you doing Takuya?"

The brunette looked at him pausing his radio music, and sat back in his seat. "Doing something I never do."

Takato gave him a confused look as Takuya grinned. "Thinking."

Now it was his turn to laugh. Oh course, how typical, the only time Takuya thought hard about something was well… like this situation.

………………..

"Geez, with the guys gone, the house is so quiet." Izumi mumbled to herself as she dropped the last of the boxes into her room. In fact, she had no idea where her brothers went, but one thing was for sure that they weren't going to get past her easily with a lame excuse. "Of course," she scoffed. "They had to leave me with all the boxes."

Sitting down on a nearby chair, she plugged in the stereo to listen to music and just… calm down. The new house and move, meant new school year and life. That's something to think about.

_I know there's something in the wake of your smile_

She closed her eyes to relax to the music. The first line was already reminding her of Takuya. The time when he first came to school. Ugh, boy was he annoying that time. His optimistic attitude was the worst.

_I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yeah._

Glaring at the ceiling, she knew very well that he knew that he was annoying her. "Why doesn't me just leave me alone?"

_You've built a love, but that love falls apart…_

"What love?" she thought to herself. "We never liked each other in "that" way, he was just being nice…that's all." and shook her head knowing that wasn't the actual reason.

………

At that very same moment, by mere coincidence, Takuya happened to be listening to the same station, thinking about the lyrics and remembering something after each line. All that had to do with Izumi. "I've liked her for a while…" he noted and sighed. "I wanted to let her know that I would always be there no matter how many times she would push me away…"

_Your little piece of heaven, turns too dark…_

"Just when things had to start out good." Izumi began.

"That marriage had to ruin it." they both muttered at the same time even though they were at different places.

_Listen to your heart,_

_when he's calling for you._

"Is it just me or is this song trying to tell me something?" Izumi thought irritably sending glares at the stereo as if it could change the song magically.

_Listen to your heart,_

_there's nothing else you can do…_

"Ugh! Forget it! I'm leaving!" she muttered and decided to go out to find the two blonds.

_I don't know where you're going,_

_and I don't know why…_

_but listen to your heart_

She gave the stereo one last glare before shutting the door behind her. "Stupid song."

_Before…you tell him good-bye…_

……………….

Airport

"Hey, where do you guys plan on going?" Takato asked the two as they finally retrieved their belongings. He knew that he and Juri would have to spend the rest of the time elsewhere, but they sure didn't know the plan between Takuya and Mimi.

"Well…" the brunette boy paused adjusting his goggles to think. "I have a feeling Izumi isn't going to listen if we're both going to speak with her… so I'll talk to her myself." he declared.

The pink haired girl agreed. "I have someone to talk to also… so."

Takuya gave Mimi a pat on the shoulder and smiled. "Good luck with Matt."

She gave him a surprised and pink look wondering how he found out, and immediately smiled. "You too." she whispered softly before heading out on her own direction.

Juri smiled warmly at them. "Don't forget us, we wish you good luck too." as Takato nodded and gave Takuya a thumbs up. "Good luck buddy." he added before leaving the scene with Juri.

Now it was just the dense-minded goggle head number four. He didn't want to admit it, but this was one of the first times he had ever been nervous. "Just do your best…" he repeated to himself.

……………….

"Ah…" Mimi stood by herself speechless in the middle of the park looking at the map at different angles. "I wish someone could help me find this place…" she muttered trying to figure her way out of the park and then to the household where Matt was moving in.

"Need help?" she heard a voice speak behind her as his finger was pointing at the destination. "Hey, that's where I live…" he paused.

She quickly turned to face him. "M-Matt?"

Now it was his turn to react the same. "Mimi? What are you doing here?" now it was awkward between them. They both knew they had something to tell each other, but… it just… didn't…

_Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile_

"S-So, how's the flight?" the pink haired girl began the conversation to start off. If they were going to speak to each other, they might as well start from the easy beginning.

_The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yeah._

"Mmm…" as he thought about it. "It was pretty long, but it was alright."

Avoiding eye contact with him, she added a mm-hm. "U-Uh… everyone thought it was unexpected of you guys to leave so early before schedule."

"Complications." he answered simply.

This conversation isn't going anywhere. She would ask him questions, but he seemed to keep it short and simple without any info that should be added there.

_They're swept away, and nothing is what it seems_

"Isn't that arranged wedding today?" he interrupted knowing that he might as well get this situation over with, he didn't have all day to stand around.

Finally looking his way, her eyes softened. "About that…" and stopped, breathing slowly knowing that she could either say it now or never. "Matt I…I…." she couldn't help it with the hesitation, this was harder than she thought! "I really…really…li-"

"YAMATO-KUN!" exclaimed a happy girl suddenly jumping on top of him from behind almost choking him.

He quickly loosened her grip on him, as she giggled as her hand was intertwined with his. "Hi." she smiled warmly noticing the sakura haired girl. She hugged him like a fan girl, but only except he didn't mind the fan girl act and glomp. "Who's she?"

_The feeling of belonging…to your dreams._

"I'll introduce you both to each other." he explained calmly. His eyes motioned over to Mimi as he spoke. "Catherine, this is Mimi, a girl I know from school. Mimi meet-"

"Heyos!" the girl greeted interrupting the formal way of introduction. "I'm Catherine!" as she hugged Matt closer. "We're in a dangerous relationship, ne Yamato-kun?"

_Listen to your heart_

"Yes, of course I know that." he nodded without care.

_When he's calling for you_

"Yamato-…kun?" Mimi repeated.

_Listen to your heart_

Catherine smiled. "Yamato-kun didn't tell you? Well his name is really Yamato, but he is usually called Matt for short, and it's easier to say around here, but I prefer Yamato since that would mean I am someone special ne, Yamato-kun?" she continued talking and gazed at him with dreamy eyes and laughed.

For once, she noticed him smile at that comment. A genuine smile…even she hadn't been able to do something to make him smile like that. Even if she was the only girl who was closest to him in school. This girl was really…something.

_There's nothing else you can do._

Catherine glanced over at Mimi and had a concerned look on her face. "I'm so sorry! I just interrupted your conversation didn't I? I-"

Mimi waved her hand to stop the blond girl from continuing. "No it's alright." she smiled weakly. "It wasn't important…" as she stuffed the paper into her purse and pretended to check her watch. "I just realized that I'm supposed to meet someone." and looked at the two. "It was nice meeting you." she nodded to Catherine and at Matt. "And it was nice seeing you again." as she gave a slight bow before running off.

_I don't know where you're going,_

"Did…did I do something wrong?" Catherine asked worriedly.

He gave her a small pat on the head since he was taller than her. "No, like she said… it wasn't important remember?" as he took her hand and led her out of the park.

"Ne ne! Yamato-kun!" she called out while being dragged by him. "Isn't she the girl that you have a crus-"

"She's getting married today." he finished.

_And I don't know why_

She fell silent as her feet forced her to walk with him. If he wasn't holding her hand, she would've ran after Mimi to fix the problem, but she didn't know the whole problem so decided to back out before causing more chaos.

_Listen to your heart_

"If someone like her can make him happy…" Mimi thought as small tears were beginning to form. "I'll try to be happy as long as he's happy…even it it's not.." as a tear slid down her cheek. "me. As long as it's with…her…" she tried to tell herself. "I'll… be fine…" and left the park.

_Before…you tell him good-bye…_

……………………

"Hm… where's Ken when you need him?" she wondered skimming through the contacts on her cell phone. Ken, who was one of their friends decided to transfer over with them to study abroad. Apparently, he too, disappeared with the other boys. Not caring after a couple of minutes, she continued walking forward, maybe she'll meet someone that-

"Oof!" as she stumbled into a boy around her age and almost fell to the ground, but was suddenly finding herself being held close, almost to an embrace.

"Izumi?" she heard a familiar voice question her, her eyes quickly opened to see the boy she never thought would come over to Italy.

_And there are voices, that want to be heard…_

"…" She wanted to say his name, but no words were coming out, as she became mute and stare elsewhere. Why, did he have to come at the worst time? She looked at him slowly. "What's your reason for being here?"

_So much to mention_

Takuya wanted to explain everything to her. He wanted to say that he never liked Mimi in that way, and that it was just an arranged marriage set up by the administration, not him, not Mimi. Just three simple words… maybe he could change her mind if…

_But you can't find the words._

"Izumi." he started and gazed at her. "There's something I wanted to tell you…I…"

She pressed a finger against him to stop him from talking. "Don't…" she muttered giving him a sympathetic smile. "Don't waste it on me…" she continued. "Mimi…she… she would be someone I think could take care of your heart, not me…"

_The scent of magic, the beauty that's been, when love was wilder than the wind._

He pushed her hand away, yet still holding her hand. "Do you…already like someone else?" This time he was serious, and they were both nervous for the answer.

_Listen to your heart_

The blond didn't know what to say to this. She hasn't moved on or found anyone else, but if she were to go with him, then more problems would just occur along the way to hurt them even more. So, no matter what… she just had to say the one thing. "I…"

_When he's calling for you_

"Izumi!" they both heard a male's voice catching up to them as he stopped beside the blond. "I heard you tried to find me, sorry, my phone was out of battery." he explained and smiled. "Forgive me?"

_Listen to your heart_

She pretended to be mad at him but grinned. "Yes, I'll always forgive you Ken, but not the part when you and the others left all the boxes in the truck for me to c-"

"carry in, I know." he replied finishing her sentence. He reached for his wallet in his pocket and smiled. "How about I take you out for a treat for the inconvenience?"

"Hm, okay!" she agreed and laughed, almost forgetting about Takuya and blushed that he saw the whole thing. "H-Hey Takuya."

_There's nothing else you can do_

He remained calm not wanting to jump to conclusions about this boy. He gave her an intent look to show he was willing to listen.

_I don't know where you're going_

"I…" she wanted to say the truth that Ken was just a friend and that he was…he…she couldn't say it. "I…" she hesitated again trying to say it. She wasn't good at confessing. If she said it now, the wedding would be ruined because of her and Mimi could be mad. Living here…she could start a new life and not deal with the drama she had…at home… all the havocs she caused for her friends and her stubborn attitude, being ignorant to others without knowing them…and for once, she was starting to feel…" sorry."

The two boys glanced at her in surprise, with different reasons though. "I…I'm really sorry….but…" her voice quivered, she was so nervous to say it. "I can't…I…"

"I understand, don't worry." Takuya muttered trying to act like it was nothing. He glanced at his cell phone and decided to give an excuse to leave the awkward moment. "I have to go back home anyways… Ja ne…" he announced before walking off disappearing down the road.

_And I don't know why…_

_But listen to your heart…_

_Before…_

"I…lo-" she almost wanted to yell out, but it was hard saying a simple four lettered word. "Love" was not in her vocabulary, yet. And unfortunately…it seems…it never will be…

"Good-bye…" she muttered.

_You tell him good-bye._

_**A/N: I decided to be nice and update it during the weekend. **_

_**Thanks to the reviewers of chapter 20! I dedicate this to you!: Yuki's Little Girl, Spell it out!, U.W.A.H Squad, LovexHina, ATOMIC ORANGE, Pokkin Choco, Ramen and Chopsticks, Automatic Code Red 123, Pandapple, Gogglelicious, First Day High, Kazumi Kairi or Kairi-chan, Grumblemon235, hollow kenpachi 13, NaruSakuLuver345, Anime-Queen-2011, those who put me on faves, and to anyone who enjoys this story! You guys are all awesome! XD**_

_**Song is called "Listen to your Heart" if anyone wanted to know.**_


	22. Return Unexpectedly

_The Orphan Flower_

_**Code translator**_

_**Often the quiet one**_

_**Digimon Decoder**_

_**Younger than most **_

_I never felt nothing in the world like this before_

_Now I'm missing you _

_I'm wishing that you would come back through my door_

Izumi felt a pat on her shoulder but didn't bother facing him. "You're not going to go after him?" he asked quietly and didn't sound like he was going to drop the subject either. "Izumi, we both know very well that we're just friends, and obviously Takuya doesn't seem to know that."

_Why did you have to go? You could have let me know_

She sighed heavily.

_So now I'm all alone_

He had a frown appear on his face seeing that she wasn't agreeing. "Izumi, I know there are lots of guys out there in the world, but deep in your heart," he explained in a serious tone. "He will always-"

"Stop it." she announced firmly taking his hand off her shoulder. "I already know. This situation is too cliché. It's like those soap operas when the girl and the guy find each other and apologize." and paused with a slight smile. "Maybe, I want to change the ending for this."

_Girl you could have stayed_

_But you wouldn't give me a chance_

_With you not around it's a bit more than I can stand_

_And all my tears they, keep running down my face_

His face only showed confusion because he couldn't tell whether she meant that the relationship was over, or whether she needed more time. Whatever it was, she already made up her mind. "Alright…" he could say still uncertain with her reply. He heard her footsteps walk away from him as she headed towards the house. The decision was up to her.

_Why did you turn away?_

3 years later…

_So why does your pride make you run and hide?_

"It's hard to believe that I never went back to Japan after such a long time." Izumi wrote down in her journal at home. She sat there for a while processing through her mind of how to write this out. "Really, I never bothered to keep in contact with anyone. I wanted to do this to avoid drama across the countries." she continued. "I'm not saying that I'm the old Izumi who wanted to avoid "emotion", but basically, if the others were to keep in touch with me, I just might cause more problems. Sometimes it's the best for that you know?"

_Are you that afraid of me?_

_But I know it's a lie that you keep inside,_

_This is not how you wanted to be_

The pen rested on top of the white lined paper. Just when she was about to go deeper into her story, her door slammed open to reveal Takeru.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" she muttered glaring at him. How dare he just barge into her room like that? Just because they were related didn't mean he was special like that.

He waved a small purple device. "Uh, haven't you heard your cell phone ringing?"

She walked over and swiped it out of his hands, checking who had just phoned her. "Ken." she thought as she began dialing his number, at the same time pushing "him" out of her room for privacy.

"Hey, the least you can do is say thanks!" he reminded irritably as the door was shut behind him. "Sisters." he sighed walking away.

"Alright, I'll meet you there in a few minutes. Okay, bye." the blond nodded and pressed the end button. Before she planned on leaving, she wrote one last note into the journal. "The day I'll come back to Japan is when I'm ready to see them again. Once I know that everything is alright." and with a drop of a pen, she was gone.

_So baby I will wait for you,_

_Cause I don't know what else I can do,_

_Don't tell me I ran out of time,_

_If it takes the rest of my life._

…………….

_Baby I will wait for you,_

Walking around the pathways of the park, it was like a trip down memory lane in a way. Along the way, she noticed two different paths, almost reminding her of a path of fate, and another of destiny. "Sure it was fate that got her and Takuya to meet, and it was probably destiny that caused them to fall in love, but it seemed that fate had caught up to destroy that destiny." a smile appeared on her face. "Sometimes, there's a path of both." she whispered taking a different route.

She could just imagine what was going on back at home in Japan. "Takeru had gone back and forth to Japan occasionally to visit the others, mainly to see his girlfriend Hikari. Juri and Takato were probably an official couple by now. Henry would be seen as president of the Hypnos corps., Sora and Tai were probably together too, and -"

"Hey, were you waiting for a while?" a voice interrupted making her jump in surprise.

_If you think I'm fine it just ain't true_

_I really need you in my life,_

_No matter what I have to do, I'll wait for you._

Turning to face him, she shook her head. "No, but I would've thought that you were waiting for me." Her eyes averted to the envelope under his arm with her name on it. "What's that?" as a finger pointed to the object he was holding.

He took it into his hands and gave it to her. "You didn't want anyone to know where you lived, so it was mailed to me instead. It's for you." he smiled.

Before asking any questions, a beep was heard from his pocket as he quickly took it out to examine it. "Ah, sorry, Miyako is calling me, call me later alright?" he asked and didn't wait for her reply since he was already gone.

"I almost forgot, Miyako is engaged to Ken, so sooner or later he is going to be back in Japan. Sheesh, there's no use for him comi.ng to Italy if that was the reason." But she knew there was a different reason, and walked on.

_It's been a long time since you called me_

_(How could you forget about me)_

"Hm…" she wondered about the others again. "I bet Izzy, Joe, and Cody are working for Henry." There was Junpei and Tomoki, but they moved to America and haven't been heard from in a while. The twins? Well for sure they had fan girls, that wasn't a surprise. Kazu and Kenta were basically wanna-be comedians, it wouldn't be unexpected if they were working in a place like a joke shop. "They would need improvement…" as a laugh came out just thinking about it.

_You got me feeling crazy (crazy)_

Daisuke seemed to be the type to become a soccer player like the other guys, only except he seemed to have accomplished that dream. Suzie could maybe be selling Digimon plush toys, and…all that girly stuff she liked. Mimi and Takuya? Her mind stopped thinking about it and tried to imagine what they were like today. "I'm sure they are both happy."

_How can you walk away, Everything stays the same_

To tell the truth, she "had" been visiting Japan. Just not "them". In fact, that was how she practically knew what everyone was doing. They just didn't know she was watching them from the distance. But she had a reason for visiting. It wasn't just to see how they were all doing, but to pray that the person she cared the most would find happiness. Even…if it wasn't her. It would be difficult to deal with, but as long as he's smiling…it's not that bad.

_I just can't do it baby_

"You're being too naïve Zmi." a deeper voice commented appearing beside her. She glanced up to see Matt standing taller than her. He had grown over the last three years no surprise there.

No word uttered out of her mouth, but they both understood each other pretty well. It was pretty cool to have a sibling who knew exactly what you were thinking without saying anything, but sometimes, they knew things a little too well. "What am I being naïve about?" she asked innocently.

He chuckled. Yep, he had changed a little more. Thanks to Catherine, he was starting to open up a little more with others, and his smiles were appearing more and more as the days went by. But no matter how close their relationship was, it was this tugging feeling that he didn't like her how others thought he did. "You don't keep in contact with your friends but you still insist on going to Japan only to "stalk" them."

"I don't stalk mind you! I was praying!" she shot back giving him a glare.

_What will it take to make you come back_

_Girl I told you what it is and it just ain't like that_

_Why can't you look at me, you're still in love with me_

"Alright let me rephrase that. "You pray, and then stalk them." he corrected seeing her face turn pink to the point when he easily dodged a punch from her.

"Hmph! Like you should talk!" she muttered and added. "Well it's not like I'm the only one who still has a broken heart."

He sat on one of the swings nearby the area. "Ah, you have a broken heart? How sad."

_Don't leave me crying_

"You're not taking this seriously are you?" an annoyed tone of hers questioned. Following suit, she too, sat down on a swing beside him. Back and forth slowly on the swing. "You still like her I know it."

He shrugged. "It's been three years, I'm sure she's over it."

_Baby why can't we just start over again_

The swing stopped as her feet skidded against the sand. "But you're not."

_Get it back to the way it was_

Calm and relaxed, he gave her a cocky look. "Oh, and I suppose you know what's wrong with my heart?"

"Maybe."

_If you give me a chance, I can love you right_

Matt looked away and glanced at the clouds like how he usually did when he was in the thinking mood. "You don't have the keys to my heart." as he could see from the corner of his eye that Izumi had stopped to listen for more. "I changed the locks." he finished.

Literally, she fell out of her swing hearing the last part. Just as he expected.

_But you're telling me, it won't be enough_

……………….

_So baby I will wait for you_

"Can you believe we're graduating?" one of the girls gushed and sighed. "Time went by us so fast!"

_Cause I don't know what else I can do_

"Haha, seriously?" a boy laughed at the idea. "You used to always complain about how boring everyday was and that time was being slow on purpose."

Her face flushed pink. "Maybe I had a change of mind."

"And a change of heart?" he guessed.

She stared at him. "Takuya, you know very well that I still like him, I never liked those fan boys or other weird show offs."

_Don't tell me I ran out of time, if it takes the rest of my life_

Takuya smiled and gazed outside the window to the school grounds where the ceremony was going to be held in a few days. Three years had been slow and fast. He knew very well that even though he and Mimi were paired by an arranged marriage, they both didn't form any feeling for each other except for friendship. He had just hoped that Izumi was happy with her life. Even if it wasn't him in the end.

_So baby I will wait for you_

_If you think I'm fine it just ain't true_

A petal flew it's way down, flying with the breeze as he observed it. It was a happy kind of sadness. He was happy that she found someone that she could be happy with, but was sad that it wasn't the answer he wanted.

The pink haired student was watching him. "It's almost time for the decision."

_I really need you in my life_

His hand intertwined with hers. "Yeah."

_No matter what I have to do, I'll wait for you._

…………………….

"I really thought I wasn't going to come back to Japan to see them." the blond female admitted stepping out of the plane. After receiving the envelope from Ken earlier, the message inside was the only reason why she immediately left.

_Izumi,_

_It's been three years, quite awhile to most of us. We all miss you. Everyone is doing fine at the moment, but Rika is…_

_The hospital was planning to "pull the plug." We thought you should know about this before the worst happens. Hope you come._

_- Juri_

Shoving the piece of paper into her bag, she sighed. "I don't know if they would actually be happy to see me…" that line that kept repeating inside her over and over again as she took a cab to the destination. It would seem selfish of her to just come for Rika's health and suddenly leave if she was alright. But looking for her friends to reconsider was even more selfish to deal with.

"Excuse me, could you please stop here?" she asked motioning her hand to the driver in front of her. Stepping out of the car, she motioned the driver to wait as she walked into the shrine. Bowing her head slightly, she prayed again for Rika and for everyone else. "I'll be happy if they are happy." she chanted to herself and after a few minutes, she was finding herself changing the prayer to "I'll be happy if he is happy."

The blond paused in confusion with what she just heard herself say. Shaking her head that it was no big deal, it was time to head back to the cab before the driver would decide to leave without her.

She shut the door quietly but firmly to secure. Sitting back to relax for the ride, turned out to be a ride full of questions.

"Where are you headed miss?" the cab driver asked politely glancing at the mirror to view her.

"Shinjuku, please."

The driver went silent before acting casual to her answer. "Shinjuku? Are you visiting someone?"

"You could say that." she replied. The way he seemed to ask, was…as if he knew her or something. But she also didn't want to seem suspicious so she pretended to look away but at the same time looked at the mirror to see his face. He seemed like a boy around her age, maybe a little older. Brownish hair…the eyes… "Ryo?"

He didn't seemed to be moved by her answer, but he just grinned. "You guessed right."

"W-What are you doing here?" as she is now dropping whatever she was holding and was now interested in who was before her. "Is it really you?"

An amused expression was on his face now. "Shouldn't I be asking "you" that?"

The blond went silent.

He looked at the mirror to see her face. "H-Hey, I wasn't trying to make you feel bad or anyth-"

"No no, I was just wondering why I really am here." she whispered softly. "I mean, yes, I'm here for Rika and all, but…." as the sentence trailed off, unfinished.

By the look on his face, he understood. They were both silent for the rest of the ride to the hospital until he muttered a "We're here."

Parking the car nearby, she followed after Ryo inside the building, through the halls, passing through people and doors one by one. Just before reaching Rika's room number, she tugged on his shirt like a little kid. "T-There's no one else in that room besides her right?"

He gave her a smile and shook his head. "Don't worry, it's just the three of us. Everyone else is practicing for the graduation ceremony," before he added. " you should go." he recommended, but of course knew what her answer to that would be.

Opening the door, she saw the patient laying on the bed who had fallen asleep. It was indeed Rika, but older, Rika, but different. No one had said anything about her waking up during her absence, and was unsure of whether that question was appropriate to ask at the time.

"Rika hasn't woken from her sleep for at least three years since you left." Ryo muttered as if he could read her thoughts. Taking Rika's hand into his, he gazed at her face. "It's like she's waiting for something."

"What would that be?" she asked with interest on her face, standing beside Ryo and seeing Rika's sleeping face. Her friend almost looked pale, and dead, it frightened her a little.

"The beginning of the end." he said simply.

She gave him an odd look, but he didn't look in her direction to know that. More riddles it seems. Typical Ryo.

"U-Um…Ryo?" she began. Her face blushed as he stared at her, since that reminded her of Takuya. "Uh….never mind…" now fascinating herself by looking at the blank white tile floor. Why does saying it have to be so hard?

A hand reached out to her, pulling her closer to him. "You got tricked by Juri you know?" he whispered in her ear, as a slight gasp escaped from her lips.

"W-What are you talking about?" pulling away from his grasp and backing away from him.

He casually leaned against the wall. "We haven't heard from you in years, and you wouldn't even try to contact either of us. Don't you think this was the only way to bring you back to Japan?"

Izumi's face was growing red, shaking nervously as she spoke. "H-How could you…." she said softly. "T-That was a dirty trick to bring me here like that. If Rika was okay the whole time, then there was no use in me being here!" she glared as her hand went to the doorknob to leave but was pulled back by Ryo to listen to more "lectures".

_Why does your pride make you run and hide?_

"Rika? okay?" he repeated seeing him wince hearing those words. She was starting to regret saying that to him. "Rika's not dead, but it doesn't mean she's okay." he murmured and added more to it. "And you being tricked? You tricked us before, even Takuya."

"Don't you dare say that name in front of me."

_Are you that afraid of me?_

He shook his head. "When are you going to stop Izumi? When are you going to stop denying what's in front of you? Can't you-"

"Stop it, you're the last person I'd expect to be telling me this!" pulling her arm out of his grasp, but still stood to her spot. "I'm only doing this to benefit everyone! I'd only cause trouble if I came back, Juri would have to listen to my troubles, everyone would blame me for Rika's coma situation, I…" as unrequited tears began to fall spilling out everything she had held for years. "God, I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"It's because you're one of my friends."

Her heart hardened with one of those words. "What a lame excuse.." she said between tears. "I don't need your sympathy."

"See? Look what you're doing to yourself now." he pointed out. "You're always making excuses you don't need anyone, always locking yourself out when we want to help you. You can't even admit that you like Takuya."

"Takuya has Mimi." she said bitterly.

"You don't need to go through your whole life alone. Man, can't…. can't you just let someone into your life to take care of you?!" he almost exclaimed but kept his tone down, but it was understandable that he was annoyed with her being stubborn.

_But I know it's a lie what you're keeping inside_

"Take care of me? I'm not a kid anymore." but she knew very well that it wasn't what Ryo was talking about. He was talking about something else.

His eyes averted to her. "You know that it's not what I meant." and looked away to think of how else to put this all together. "You and your brother Matt need help, you both think you're doing the best for everyone, but with you guys acting like this, you're only hurting them more."

"How do you know?"

He opened the door for her. "That's something you need to figure out yourself."

Izumi gave him one last look before storming out of the room with the door shutting behind her. She sighed. Never in her life did she expect to be like this, especially when she thought she was over everything. She needed to be alone.

_That's not how you wanted to be._

……………..

_Baby I will wait for you_

"Graduation is coming up soon." Mimi sighed to herself. Yep, she was alone sitting on the swings waiting for Takuya to meet up with her. Not that she didn't want to graduate, in fact she'd been waiting for this moment, but it just didn't turn out the way she had dreamed to be. When the term "graduation" came up, didn't it mean one of the most memorable moments to be with your friends for the last time until years later? Didn't it mean that everyone you knew would be there? A beginning of the end?

_Baby I will wait for you_

Matt, was doing a similar thing, waiting for Izumi to meet up with him at the park. Apparently, she was the type to be late on schedule, so he walked on to find a familiar girl on the swings. He didn't go up to her immediately, not seeing her for years, and after that misunderstanding, it's just…not that easy to forget even 'til now.

_If it's the last thing I do._

Seriously, he never thought he would look at her like that. In fact the first time when they met, she was like one of his fan girls that he would try to brush off, but this one, was different. She started to become a friend, even through her mistakes. He just didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to give love a chance, but somehow, being away from here, just made things worse.

An idea had appeared in his mind.

"Maybe, if I gave him a chance…" Mimi thought again. She sighed, this was too hard to do by herself. The swing began to move feeling a slight push behind her. Weird, her shoes weren't touching the ground, so there was no way… but didn't bother to face the person behind her. "Must be Takuya…" she noted, letting the person continue pushing her on the swing.

It continued on for minutes. Life was like a pendulum, good and bad, swinging either furiously or softly. Just like now. She smiled until the swing went a little too high as she quickly cried out. "Wait, stop!"

_Baby I will wait for you_

"What? Too high or too fast?"

Her body froze, as if it was stuck to the swing, too nervous to turn around. "That" voice was not Takuya, as she began to slow down, halting to a stop with her shoes.

_Cause I don't know what else I can do_

The person finally stood in front of her. "Sorry, I seemed to have lost my map of life, I was hoping on getting another one."

_Don't tell me I ran out of time_

Instead of feeling mad or upset, something between them finally became calm, as if it were saying "game over." A smile was forming on her face as she took his hand. "I don't happen to have a spare one, but perhaps we could share?"

"Sounds good to me." the blond boy smiled in return as he took her hand. As she stood up beside him, they still held hands. It was a moment that felt like forever. They were both coming to their senses, and it was starting to become a different ending.

_If it takes the rest of my life_

Tears were falling, but Mimi ignored them as she suddenly embraced the boy she had longed to be with since the beginning. "Words can't express what I needed to say."

He chuckled, hugging her tightly.

………………….

_Baby I will wait for you_

Standing before the grave in front of her, she had her mind and heart settled. Of course, she was already aware that Matt would be complaining later that she was late meeting up with him, but he would understand right?

_You think I'm fine it just ain't true_

Clasping her hands together and shutting her eyes, she whispered. "I'll never tell, but you know who had my heart from the very beginning, please take care of him." and left a small cosmo flower on top of the cement before walking away.

For once in all those years, she was starting to feel that the weight upon her was disappearing. All those times when she believed she could do herself, was all a waste of time to not realize how Ryo told her, the thing in front of her. Love had always been there, but she refused every opportunity.

_I really need you in my life_

Maybe one day…

_No matter what I have to do I'll wait for you_

"Shoot, Mimi is gonna kill me for being late." a brunette boy muttered to himself as he hurried over to the meeting spot. Turning to the corner of the street quickly, he found himself crashing into someone.

"Oof!" as she found herself on the cement ground.

"Hey, sorry! I didn't mean to run into you like that." an older boy around her age quickly apologized helping her up. "Are you alright?" he asked hoping that there wasn't any damage on her.

"I'm fine, don't worry." she smiled.

"Okay, that's good." he sighed in relief and checked the time. "Oh, sorry, but I have to leave, I'm kinda in a hurry."

"Yeah don't worry about it." as they both waved good-bye and went their own ways. Little did they know that, they had run into each other and it was unbelievable that they didn't recognize who the other was.

Only a couple of feet away, the boy stopped running to turn back at the girl with an odd feeling in his heart. Her back was turned from him, but she suddenly stopped when he called her out. "Izumi?"

_I'll Be Waiting._

_**A/N: Again!**_

_**No it's not the ending yet, but yes, there's only one more chapter to go! So once again, I dedicate this chapter to the Chapter 21 reviewers: ATOMIC ORANGE, Kazumi Kairi or Kairi-chan, Automatic Code Red 123, Pokkin Choco, U.W.A.H. Squad, LovexHina, Spell it out!, Pandapple, Gogglelicious, First Day High, Rubberman2025, Ramen and Chopsticks, Anime-Queen-2011, dogluv101.**_

_**Oh and by the way, the next chapter is where I'll be doing a reviewers' dedication at the end of the story to say my thanks since I don't really reply to your reviews! Sorry, so I'll make it up with this! **_

"_**I'll be Waiting." - so review! XD lol.**_


	23. Seed Remains, Comes A New Flower

_**Takuya**_

_**Active soccer player! **_

_**Kanbara**_

_**Unites the group together**_

_**Yep, another goggle head**_

_**And so the epic continues…**_

"I-Izumi?" the boy repeated again, not believing who was in front of him after three years of absence.

She stood still trying to process through her mind what to say at this time. "U-Uh…no." managed to slip out instead. He gave her a confused look as she tried to clear things up. "Uh, I mean, I don't know who you're talking about."

He stared at her and sighed in disappointment. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Takuya by the way." he began, lending a hand out to her. "I haven't seen you around, so if you need any help around town feel free to ask me."

No offense, but who just goes around introducing himself to complete strangers and act like friends? But ignoring that thought. Grasping his hand in return, she merely said. "I'm Zoe."

"Nice to meet you." he cheerfully responded before waving off to where he was supposed to go.

The blond watched him run down the street until he disappeared and cursed something in her mind about how this wasn't supposed to happen. Since he fell for her trick, she wouldn't mind playing along pretending to be a new foreign girl "Zoe". What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Yet.

……..

"No, no!" The pink haired student repeated, stamping her foot on the ground to grab the boys' attention. "The flowers should be hanging above the streamers, not the stage lights!" pointing at the ceremony's well decorated scenery, glimmering from the sunlight outside. The workers sighed while she glared at them, making sure everything was perfect.

"Ne, don't you think you're being a bit too harsh on them?" Kari teased, leaning against the entrance, with an amused expression. They both laughed, as they continued to stare at the workers decorating the most important event.

Mimi stared in awe and smiled. "I can't help it if it's not set up the way it's supposed to be", as she fluttered her hand out posing a pretend sassy look. "I mean, that's why a girl like me is here!"

"If you're here, couldn't you do it yourself? Considering that you know everything or something?" Kari sighed but stifled a giggle. "Even T.K. would have to agree!"

"Now you're just saying that because you don't want to have to take care of him when the decorations are finished". Mimi replied simply while examining her schedule on her planner.

Her friend stood there and let out a chuckle before leaving. "I guess people do crazy things when they are in love…" she whispered and walked down the steps to where T.K. was supposed to meet her. "I wouldn't mind".

She shook her head. "Alright boys! Let's finish the rest up!"

One of the boys responded back to that comment. "You're breaking our backs with all this manual labor!"

"Like I care".

"And she's breaking our hearts…" coughed another boy as a group of fan boys nodding and crying full of tears with their unrequited dream to be with a girl like her.

……………..

"The beginning of the end…" Izumi muttered, trying to figure out what Ryo's riddle of the day was. It didn't make sense to her, not to mention, thinking wasn't her thing. Her blond hair was swiftly swaying with the breeze in the air as she was walking down the street to nowhere. She didn't find her brother at the park at all, so all she could do was walk aimlessly until "something".

"Shinya!" a female voice called out, which at first made Izumi jump from the sudden outburst. Her hearing twitched with the familiar name. "Shinya…" she whispered softly, turning around to see an older teenage boy waving towards a girl. She focused closely on the girl, strangely familiar. "Isn't that…"

"Hey, did I make you wait?" he asked, but smiled as she shook her head no.

"Suzie?!" She almost blurted but thankfully, kept it within her mind. She would never think that Henry's little sister would be friends with Shinya. Well, okay. She "could" imagine them as friends, but still.

A cherry blossom flew by her sight along with the wind. Her eyes stared at the pink flower. Okay, she had to admit, pink was a pretty girly color and it reminded her of people like Mimi, but sometimes at times like these, pink was pretty cool. "Spring…" she remembered. It had been such a long time, not that at where she was living at didn't have spring, but it sure didn't have cherry blossoms all around that danced like rain.

Another sigh. As she sat underneath the sakura tree, her mind was wandering off once again to the past. If she hadn't left, would things be worse, or would it have been better if she had stayed? It kept questioning on and on, and she never knew the answer to it. She stared at the flower in her hand. Her finger softly touched the petals as she hesitated. "It's a silly game, but it's worth a try".

"Loves me…loves me not….loves me….loves me not…loves me…loves me not". she chanted to herself, tugging at every petal until it was gone. She glared at the last petal. "Loves me…"

She stared at it in disbelief. There was no way that Takuya would still have feelings for her. Not after three years. Not after what happened. Not after losing contact with everyone. Not after how she kept treating him. Ignoring them, isolating everything from her heart…she was even more heartless than Rika. It was painful to know that.

"How does it feel to be loved?" she said out of nowhere to no one. Utterly confused, she couldn't think anymore. There seemed to be both sides to everything. She had to pick one, and fast. No one is going to wait for her anymore if she kept this up.

…………..

"Man, I swear, I saw her". Takuya kept mumbling to himself, pacing back and forth in the room. Sure, a girl could change after three years, but something was telling him that she was still the same person. "She said her name was Zoe…." he also reminded himself again.

"Who said her name was Zoe?" Takato spoke up, interested with Takuya's conversation with no one. "The graduation ceremony is going to start soon, so what's on your mind?"

Both boys were silent, making the classroom eerie until he said her name. "Izumi".

He held a surprised reaction hearing that name that was forbidden to say after her leave. Everyone made an oath not to bring her up when Takuya came back to Japan heartbroken. "Uh…what was that?" making sure he heard right.

Takuya kept quiet again. "Izumi", he simply answered. "I saw her".

His friend stood there nervously, wondering if Takuya meant it in a good way, or a bad way. "Was she with someone?"

He shook his head no.

"So she was alone?"

He nodded.

"Did she say anything?"

"We ran into each other, but she pretended to be someone else".

"Well, how do you know if she really isn't that someone else?"

He shrugged. "I just had that feeling".

"Hey you two! Graduation is gonna start!" The older brunette girl happily announced as she walked right in the hostile atmosphere. "Uh…um…" as she felt the negative vibe from Takuya.

"Don't worry about him, he's uh…thinking too much". Takato assured her. He pulled Takuya along out of the classroom to follow Juri as they headed towards the school grounds.

………………

The blond inhaled. Exhaled. Inhaled. Exhaled. Urging her feet to move forward, it still seemed to be stuck to the ground like glue. "C'mon, just one step and I'm on the school grounds". She scolded her mind as her eyes stared at the boundary line between her and the school. Taking one step, she sighed. "Finally!"

Now that she was at her old school, it wasn't hard to figure out where the ceremony was if you could see all the flowers, balloons, graduation decorations everywhere. It was a nice greeting.

Unfortunately, that greeting was interrupted by crowds of fan clubs that merely ran over her, yelling names of their beloved idols. "Ow." she said painfully, once again falling to the ground. "I swear, I have this habit of falling", as she glared at the girls who pushed her aside. "They'll pay for that…" she muttered irritably.

_Flashback_

"_Ow!" Izumi said painfully as she fell on the floor spilling her books everywhere. She glared at the girls behind her who pushed her. "You'll pay for that…." she announced angrily_

_End of Flashback_

"Hey, did they give you a hard time?" she heard a female voice approaching towards her, reaching a hand out to her to help.

Another girl laughed. "You should stand up for yourself, that way they won't try bothering you".

_Flashback_

_Her friends looked at her. "Did they give you a hard time again?" asked Juri worriedly_

_Rika folded her arms "You should stand up for yourself more, that way they won't bother you"_

_End of Flashback_

"Hello?" The brunette called out to her snapping her fingers in front of her face. "Shinjuku, I think we have a problem".

"Huh?" The blond suddenly regain back to normal.

"Hey Sora! Kari!"

Now Izumi was glancing over at the boy who was running towards their group, followed by his twin.

_The three looked at him. "Don't forget the orphan idiot" muttered Rika putting a hand on her head_

She stifled a laugh making the situation awkward between the five of them. "She a friend of yours?" He pointed.

Sora shook her head. "Actually we just ran into her".

Arms crossed now, she decided to stop playing the masquerade game. "Hm, I'm surprised that you can't even remember the Orphan Flower around here", letting out a pretend sigh and smile.

The four froze and stared at her.

She stared back.

They continued to stare with shocked faces.

Her face was calm. "I see we're all shocked, ne?"

"W-When did you arrive?" Sora asked, worried if they were all too dense to realize she was there all along.

She shrugged. "Not long I would say".

"Does Takuya know you're here?" Kouichi added as they all stood there silently waiting for an answer.

She glanced down defeated and surprised that they were already bringing him up. No surprise there. "Is this… a bad time?"

They glanced at each other for answers but none. It was obvious that it was a no, she never saw him…yet. Or so they thought. It wasn't that they didn't want her here, of course they've been waiting for years for her to come back, but it just…just wasn't the perfect time…

"It's alright", Sora spoke up quietly, motioning the others to leave so it would be between her and Izumi. "But he hasn't been himself since you left".

Once again, no surprise there either. A nod was all she could do to reply to that statement. "Of course, I should've known that".

The older girl turned to the blond. "I'm guessing that, you were hesitating to see all of us… especially him." She paused receiving no answer and seeing that she wasn't lifting her head up from staring at the ground. "He's not…married and hasn't gone out with anyone either".

"Eh?" Startled by that line, her head rose to see if Sora was joking, but she was serious. She could feel a tint of red appearing on her face. "I…you…how…why…"

"Your face kept asking that the whole time". Sora giggled, pointing at her flushed cheeks, as she whispered in her ear. "He still loves you".

Izumi let out a laugh for that one. "Right, that's what he felt three years ago I bet". Great, now her old stubborn side was coming up again, trying to deny every opportunity when it came to love.

"Geez, what's holding you back?" she wondered aloud. For a girl like Sora, she was the observant type to know that Izumi was holding something within her heart. "It's like there's something you can't let go of".

There was a small tug inside her. "I…I don't know…"

She gave the blond a pat on the back. "C'mon, you like him, he likes you. What's the issue?"

"Sora, not everyone can just forgive and forget that easily". She muttered at the over protective mother-like girl of the group.

"Yes, but everyone can forgive and 'move on'", the girl rephrased. "That's the least you can do". Her eyes averted towards the crowd that was coming in for the ceremony. "It's like…" and tried to think of how to put it in words. "You feel like you don't belong here".

She gave her an amused look. "Oh? And what are you? My counselor?"

The girl stood there quietly and smiled. "That wouldn't be a bad job now would it?"

Izumi smiled in return. "No…no I guess it wouldn't".

They both stopped a couple feet from where the ceremony was going to be held. "Do you know what a broken destiny is?", not expecting a reply, she spoke again. "A broken destiny is when two people love each other, but have this reason why they can't be together. A broken destiny is when two lovers can't be together".

She listened to the words slowly, taking all the information to process through her mind.

Sora sighed. "Your brother and Mimi were almost like that. They were almost like that broken destiny, but guess what? They still believed and loved each other no matter where they were and followed their hearts."

"So that's where he went." The blond thought now knowing why she couldn't find him yesterday.

"They're together now". Sora finished and took Izumi's hand into hers. "And I think… no I know, that you should do the same before…" and trailed off leaving the sentence unfinished. "Well, you know what I mean", she grinned.

Without another word, she let go of her hand and walked ahead down the aisles of chairs towards the front of the audience to where the others were gathering. "A broken destiny huh?" she laughed, while watching the ceremony begin.

…………..

"_Ruki, you can wake up now"._

_The brunette couldn't help but roll her eyes at that statement. "I already am awake if you must know"._

"_Fine fine, you are awake "spiritually" but not "physically"._

"_Hm, I see even my inner self uses sarcasm, but why are you calling me Ruki?"_

"_Of course, even you don't know your true name"._

"_And what would you know?"_

"_Gosh, it doesn't matter now. It's not important at the moment. We can deal with this in our next story"._

"_Next story?" Rika almost laughed and shook her head. "So, is the fight over?"_

"_If you're talking about "that" with Izumi and the others, well almost"._

"_What do you mean almost?"_

"_Ahem, I mean that Izumi is choosing not to go down the path of broken destiny, therefore, it's time for you to wake up"._

"Mmm…" Ryo heard Rika suddenly moan from her bed trying to regain conscious. He quickly ran up to her bedside taking her hand. "She's starting to wake up…" he thought in disbelief, as her face went back to calm and into the dream world.

"_Oh yeah, try to make me inner self". Rika taunted, there was no way to convince her to wake up._

_Her inner self went silent. "Ryo is gonna kiss you right now that's what!"_

Suddenly, Rika's eyes opened as she quickly sat up from her bed, about to slap that Hero Boy's doing, only to be enraptured into an accidental kiss. Both were surprised, but didn't pull away as he leaned closer to her. Realizing what was actually happening, she took her right hand and smacked him right across the face. Hard. "What do you think you're doing?!"

He gave her a quirky look. "What are you talking about, I think I was just in the middle of being with a beaut-"

Another smack across the face.

…………..

They all looked so happy. Juri looked happy. Her eyes knew perfectly well watching all of them celebrating their last day together. "I feel like I shouldn't be interfering…" Izumi sighed sadly but for such an odd reason, she was feeling happy about it. Happy kind of sadness, that's what it was.

She was waiting at the far end of the corner of the school grounds, after the graduation ceremony, watching all of them. Petals were kind of in the way of her view since they kept falling swiftly like rain.

"Lastly, Rika Makino". The speaker announced on the mic, even though many of the audience knew that she was at the hospital and were expecting someone to get the diploma for her.

At the corner of her eye, she noticed the petals starting to move away to reveal not just Ryo, but Rika was up and alive with him at the entrance. She had her normal blank expression as she walked up to the stage and took her diploma.

No matter what, she couldn't help but smile as the audience greeted her with a standing ovation. How much, Izumi just wanted to just run up to talk to her, like the old times. But her friends were already doing that job for her.

"Rika!" Juri hugged the brunette with tears of joy in her eyes. "I don't believe it!"

Rika smiled softly, giving a small pat in return. "I couldn't miss our graduation now can I?"

"Mere coincidence that you woke up at this time…" her voice trailed off as she shook her head. "Well, it's not important, as long as you're here." she grinned. Their last day wasn't going to be a sad good-bye after all. They were reunited with one more friend.

"Okay! Less talking, more graduation hats throwing!" Mimi exclaimed, interrupting the two with her fist in the air while everyone cheered. Rika as usual plugged her ears from that girl's loud voice.

"Alright, alright". Juri agreed and sighed with their undying optimistic spirits. Everyone held onto their dark square hats and counted. "One…Two…Three!"

You would have to admit, it was raining graduation hats as in the end, no one had sad expressions. Like some magic spell that kept them from thinking of what the future had for them.

The blond teen silently, had tears slowly falling down her face again, but for a different reason. They were just tears of joy, to see the people she had always cared for, be genuinely happy.

Walking away from the scene, she exhaled and smiled. They must have all moved on, and it's a possibility that she needed to do the same too. For real, and not just pretend.

Takuya suddenly felt something, no…someone was now leaving. Turning around from the gang, he noticed someone familiar was leaving without even greeting them all a hello in the first place. Before he could say it, Rika had already beaten him to it.

"Izumi is here". She said simply.

The group became silent and stared at the brown haired boy worriedly, the She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, was now brought up.

He laughed, leaving the group, he ran to catch up with the girl. His hand touched her shoulder, making her jump but keep still without looking at him. "You think you can just leave without a proper hello?" he teased.

"Takuya…" she whispered, her eyes slowly looking into his. "Takuya…"

"Izumi…"

"Takuya…you," and a glare replaced her dreamy look as she hit him across the face. "You idiot!" making him fall to the ground.

He was on the ground, shocked with what just happened. "What was that for?!"

She folded her arms and pretended to be mad. "You didn't visit me at all, notice me when I was here, and you didn't even bother meeting me at the airport!"

"What?! You didn't even tell me! And I even felt that you were still mad at me and-" but the boy stopped quickly to notice her smile as she laughed.

"I was kidding Takuya". She admitted with a cheery smile as her finger tapped his head. He stared at the ground, making the girl worry if her joke went to far. "Takuya?"

Now it was his turn to pull off a joke on her. Surprised by his action, he enveloped her into a hug and kissed her forehead. "Don't do that again".

"I won't promise you that". She responded and hugged back in return.

"Izumi are you crying?"

"Shut up, don't make me hit you again".

"I'm starting to understand how Ryo feels with Rika now…"

"Hey, I'm sure you didn't forget us now did you?" Juri spoke up interrupting their moment, as the group waved at the two.

"Of course not". They said in unison.

Walking towards the group, Izumi took his hand. "Takuya".

"Hm?"

"You do know that…you're falling in love with Izumi the Orphan…" Her head went low ashamed to bring that up now.

But, she glanced up at him because of his response. "What are you talking about?"

Before she question more to what kind of response that was, he continued on. "I know I'm falling in love with," their faces were close to each other, " a girl Izumi Orimoto".

Petals flew once again around them, as the group happily cheered them on and laughed. They were reunited.

_The flower withers, but the seed remains._

_But one day, it'll come back a beautiful flower._

* * *

_**A/N! **You know, originally, I wasn't going to have them end in a happy ending like that. Really. So if you don't like the ending, I could've made it worse. Nya:P I was supposed to have it where they are both happy, but they move on with their life, Takuya lives his life being with his friends, and Izumi goes back to Italy. But they still love each other, but they never talked things out in the end and end up with a happy kind of sadness. Yep. But, then reviewers like you would be mad...haha. _

_Alright, this took a while to write up, and sorry for the wait. Originally I wanted this up on Valentines' Day, but I had to add and take out parts of this last chapter at the last minute. Hope you guys had a fun Valentines' Day though! Random as we all know it, I thought it was pretty funny when I put She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, if anyone understood what that meant. (lol)_

**_Thanks to:_**

**_Kazumi Kairi or Kairi-chan: Wow, I really don't know what else to say to this person, but she's an awesome supporter I'll tell you that. No words could express what I needed to say. Thanks loads! XD_**

**_ATOMIC ORANGE: Haha, my hyperactive friend, always one of the number one reviewers like KKK-C._**

**_Automatic Code Red 123: Glad you enjoyed my story! Oh, and thanks for giving me ideas of what to write up. _**

**_Gogglelicious: Dude when are we going to get together for our Gogglehead meeitng? Lol, thanks for supporting!_**

**_Pandapple: Short and sweet reviews _**

**_First Day High: Thanks for supporting! XD Love the short and sweet reviews!_**

**_Pokkin Choco: Hm, makes me want to eat pocky now, but I love the sweet reviews you give me. V_**

**_Ramen and Chopsticks: Love the support once again, oh and the signature!_**

**_Yuki's Little Girl: You're one of the reasons why I update, thanks for supporting:D_**

**_Grumblemon235: Thanks for always dropping a line to tell me to keep going! Without your reviews, I probably would'nt have finished the story! Gasp, that's not good is it?_**

**_TrialAndError123456: One of my great reviewers, although I haven't heard from this person in a while, lol._**

**_Dogluv101: Much thanks for reviewing in the very beginning!_**

**_Minamotogirl: Again, thanks for your reviews and supporting. Your reviews make me smile. :D_**

**_Anime-Queen-2011: Yay! Guess what? The story is finished, thanks for your supporting and your reviews that helped me. XD You rock!_**

**_Scentomon: Yep, I'm saying this again for everyone. Much thanks!_**

**_Hollow kenpachi 13: Thank you for your reviews! _**

_**Other reviewers:** dbzgtfan2004, Ai102, Courageous-Flame, Namixas, amylovestakuya, Dis-ViEt-GiRl-OvA-HeRe, Rozen, amethyst fire phoenix, koyuki kimura, sakura's conscience, lil-ying-fa, Sakura Raindrop, NaruSakuLuver345, Usagi Sohma 83 (Much thanks to you! XD), kryuzei, Rubberman2025, U.W.A.H Squad, Light's Blue Blossom, ToraHimeSama_

_**Annon. reviewers:** DarthNima, Red Eye, O.o TT3TT, chika, hiro, Spell it out!, LovexHina, alannah, O.O bunni!, anonymous, queen of random, Chibified, nagi, Niki_

_I wrote tons I know. By the way, chapter 22, the song was by Elliot Yamin, "I'll Be Waiting". This makes up for the times I never responded. I also want to thank those who put me on their faves or alerts, those who never review, hope you enjoyed the story. _


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